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LAWNS 

AND  HOW  TO  MAKE  THEM 


Together  With  the  Proper  Keeping 
of  Putting  Greens 


BY 
LEONARD  BARRON 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 
Doubleday,  Page  &  Company 

1909 


Copyright,  1906,  by 

Donbleday,  Page  &  Company 

Published,  October,  1906 


A 11  rights 

including  that  of  translation  into  foreign  languages, 
including  the  Scandinavian 


PREFACE 

THE  main  hope  in  this  book  is  that  it  will 
result  in  more  and  better  suburban  gardens. 
I  believe  this  volume  is  the  first  that  has 
ever  been  written  treating  the  making  and 
maintenance  of  the  ornamental  lawn  from  a 
purely  practical  standpoint.  Its  purpose  is 
to  enable  anyone  to  establish  a  respectable 
and  adequate  greensward  in  any  sort  of  soil 
where  grass  can  be  made  to  grow. 

The  photographic  illustrations,  so  graphic 
that  they  are  essential  to  the  story,  have  with 
few  exceptions  been  made,  expressly  for  the 
present  purpose,  by  Herbert  E.  Angell,  Henry 
Troth,  Nathan  R.  Graves,  and  myself. 
Plates  xix  and  xx  are  by  courtesy  of  the 
U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 

Thanks  for  information  in  the  matter  of 
seeds  and  mixtures  are  especially  accorded 
to  W.  E.  Marshall  and  L.  W.  Wheeler;  for 
cooperation  in  obtaining  many  of  the  pict- 
ures to  John  T.  Withers,  John  Dunbar,  and 
J.  Featherstone.  L.  B. 

New  Tork,  1906. 


CONTENTS 


I.  Renovating  the  Old  Lawn    ...        3 

II.  How  to  Make  a  Lawn  Once  For  All  10 

III.  Economical  Grading     .         .         .         .20 

IV.  Which  is  Better:  Turf  or  Seed  ?          .          32 

V.     The  Fine  Art  of  Mowing,  Rolling,  and 

Watering       .....      44 

VI.  How  to  Feed  a  Lawn        .         .         .  56 

VII.  Solving  the  Weed  Problem:  Insects,  etc.  68 

VIII.  The   Truth   about    "Lawn    Mixtures"  87 

IX.  Seed  Mixtures  for  Special  Purposes    .  101 

X.  Lawns  for  Subtropical  Regions      .         .109 

XI.  The  Best  Lawn  Tools  and  Their  Use  118 

XII.  How  to  Make  Lawn  Pictures        .         .  135 

XIII.     The  Peculiar  Requirements  of  Putting 

Greens      .         .         .         .         .         150 

XIV.     Guide  to  the  Best  Lawn  Grasses  .         .161 
Index 167 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  Perfect  Lawn  in  an  Ideal  Setting 
(H.  E.  Angell)  Frontispiece 


FACING   PAGE 


II.     Radical  Renovation  (H.  E.  AngelT)  4 

III.  The   First  Steps   in  Lawn   Making 

(H.  E.  Angelt)  ....  5 

IV.  Making  the  Seed  Bed  (H.  E.  Angelt)  10 

V.     Cutting   and   Laying   Sods    (N.    R. 

Graves)      .         .         .         .         .11 

VI.     Seeding:  the  Right  and  Wrong  Ways 

(H.E.  Angell)                             .  18 

VII.     Making  True  Edges  (H.  E.  Angelt)  .  19 

VIII.     The    Turfing-Iron   in   Use    (H.  E. 

Angell) 28 

IX.     Draining  and  Terra.cmg(H  .E.Angell)  29 

X.     In  the  Sod  Nursery  (H.  E.  Angelt)  32 

XI.     Repairing  With  Turf  (H.  E.  Angelt)  33 

XII.     Weather  for  Mowing  (H.  E.  Angell)  44 

XIII.  Stepping  a  Slope  (H.  Troth)    .         .  45 

XIV.  Holding  the  Grass  on  a  Steep  Ter- 

race (H.  E.  Angell)    ...  48 

XV.     How  to  Retain  the  Old  Tree  (H .  E. 

Angell) 49 

XVI.     Two  Methods   of   Feeding   (H.  E. 

Angell  and  N.  R.  Graves)   .         .  56 


PLATE 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 

XXVIII. 

XXIX. 

XXX. 


FACING   PAGE 


Digging  Dandelions  (H.  E.  Angell)      57 
Lessons  With  Weeds  (H.  E.  Angell)      68 

Bermuda  Grass  in  a  Blue  Grass  Lawn 
(U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture)      69 

The  Worst  Weed  of  All,  Crab  Grass 
(U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture)      86 

Seeds  of  Timothy  and  English  Rye 
(L.  Barron)        ....      87 

Seeds  of  the  Two  Good  Lawn  Grasses 
(L.  Barron)        .         .         .         .102 

A   First   Class    Lawn    Mixture    (L. 
Barron)     .         .  .    •         103 

When  the  Sheep  Shears  are  Useful 
{L.  Barron  and  H.  E.  Angell)      .    120 

The  Proper  Kind  of  Roller  (H.  E. 
Angell)      ...         .         .    121 

Lawn-Mowing  a  Luxury   (/.  Horace 
McFarland  Co.)          .         .         .132 

The  Suburbanite's  Burden  (L.  Bar- 
ron and  H.  E.  Angell)        .         -133 

The    Clipper   Type    of    Mower   (/. 
Horace  McFarland  Co)      .         .134 

Lawn  Pictures,   I.  (L.    Barron    and 
H.  E.  Angell)     .         .         .         .135 

Lawn  Pictures,  II.  (H.  E.  Angell)  .    150 


XXXI.     A  Lawn  at  Newport  (L.  Barron) 


LAWNS 
AND  HOW  TO  MAKE  THEM 


LAWNS 

CHAPTER  I 
RENOVATING  THE  OLD  LAWN 

A  cruel  answer  to  an  everyday  problem— Remaking  the  best  method- 
Fertilising — Top  dressing — Mastering  weeds  and  insects — Futility 
of  half-hearted  methods — Why  English  lawns  are  impossible — 
The  fallacy  of  the  Newport  lawns. 

"WHAT  can  I  do  to  my  lawn  to  make  it 
fresh  and  velvety  again  ?"  This,  in  some 
form  or  other,  is  the  question  that  is  asked  by 
90  per  cent,  of  all  who  take  an  interest  in 
their  gardens  and  wish  to  keep  the  general 
appearance  at  par.  It  is  the  common  ques- 
tion, too,  that  is  asked  by  everyone  as  soon  as 
he  begins  to  take  an  interest  in  the  grounds 
surrounding  his  home.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
the  question  is  usually  more  than  justified. 
The  lawn  does  need  renovating. 

"How  to  do  it  ?"  Well,  the  most  effective 
result  is  attained  by  the  most  radical  course. 
The  best  and  simplest  way  to  renovate  the 
old  lawn  is  to  make  a  new  one.  Nine  times  out 


LAWNS 


of  ten  it  will  not  pay  to  patch,  patch,  and 
work  interminably  over  a  badly  conditioned 
grass  plot,  simply  because  the  necessary  soil 
conditions  for  the  good  lawn  are  not  there. 

If  the  result  that  presents  itself  to  the 
questioner  is  merely  that  of  recent  neglect — 
that  is  to  say  a  heretofore  good  lawn  has 
been  allowed  to  get  out  of  control — it  may 
be  recovered  in  one  season  without  an  undue 
expenditure  of  either  labour  or  money.  In 
such  a  case  what  is  necessary  is:  firstly,  a 
moderate  cutting,  preferably  with  the  scythe 
and  not  going  so  closely  to  the  roots  that  they 
will  be  unduly  exposed  to  the  drying  influence 
of  the  sun;  secondly,  rolling  and  fertilising  ; 
and  thirdly,  watering  and  mowing  and  rolling 
for  the  rest  of  the  season. 

If,  on  a  good  soil,  a  lawn  has  become  much 
overrun  with  weeds  it  can  be  brought  under 
control  again,  and  put  into  good  condition, 
by  scratching  up  the  surface  with  a  rake  after 
removing  the  coarse  weeds  and  seeding  with 
one  half  the  quantity  of  good  recleaned  grass 
seed  that  would  be  used  for  the  making  of  a 
new  lawn. 

As  a  rule,  however,  it  may  be  taken  for 
granted  that  a  lawn  that  really  needs  reno- 


PLATE  III 


If  the  natural 


best,  break  up  tl 


art  it  off  to  fill  a  hollow  spot,  thus  making  room  for  a  better  soil 
THE  FIRST  STEPS  IN  LAWN  MAKING 


RENOVATING   THE    OLD    LAWN  5 

vating,  because  it  has  gone  so  far  to  the  bad  as 
to  present  an  appearance  of  anything  in  the 
world  but  a  lawn,  should  be  entirely  remade. 
If  the  old  lawn  gave  out  because  the  grasses 
could  not  find  any  soil  on  which  to  grow, 
think  you  then  that  the  new  seed  will  do  any 
better?  Not  a  bit  of  it!  You  may  add 
fertiliser,  you  may  scatter  bone-meal  and 
wood-ashes  in  abundance,  you  may  dress  it 
with  air-slaked  lime  in  the  fall,  or  you  may 
top-dress  abundantly,  running  the  whole 
gamut  of  farm  manures,  but,  believe  me,  you 
have  a  long  fight  ahead.  It  takes  a  great  deal 
more  than  mere  dressings  of  stable  manure  or 
chemical  fertiliser  to  once  again  put  the  soil 
into  "good  heart." 

The  quick  and  sure  method  of  doing  this  is 
by  the  plough.  Or,  if  you  only  deal  with  a 
very  small  garden,  do  the  work  with  a  spade. 
It  may  mean  the  using  up  of  a  great  deal  of 
muscular  force,  but  in  the  long  run  you  will 
be  the  gainer.  If  it's  in  the  fall,  top-dress 
the  soil,  dig  it  over  two  spits  deep,  and  leave 
it  roughly  heaped — without  any  smoothing, 
whatever — for  the  winter's  frosts  to  act  upon 
it.  Frost  is  a  wonderful  agent  in  the  mellow- 
ing of  the  soil  and  in  the  killing  of  obnoxious 


8  LAWNS 

Because  of  the  extra-trying  conditions  of 
the  American  climate  a  much  greater  depth 
and  more  thorough  preparation  of  soil  are 
necessary.  The  price  of  a  good  lawn  is 
eternal  vigilance  and  persistent  cultivation 
of  the  grass,  so  as  to  keep  out  the  weeds. 
Remember  the  precept  of  the  Sunday  school 
teacher:  that  the  best  way  of  keeping  bad 
ideas  and  wicked  thoughts  from  crowding  into 
the  mind  is  by  occupying  it  thoroughly  with 
good  thoughts. 

THE    NEWPORT   FALLACY 

We  are  accustomed  to  hear  much  in  praise 
of  the  lawns  of  Newport,  but  as  a  matter  of 
fact  they  will  not  bear  comparison  for  texture 
and  quality  of  grasses  with  many  that  are 
found  elsewhere.  A  very  careful  inspection 
of  a  great  many  of  these  famed  swards  has 
revealed  to  me  that  they  owe  their  beautiful 
greenery  just  as  much  to  the  weeds  that 
occupy  the  ground  as  they  do  to  the  grasses, 
and  often  indeed  more  so.  What  is  accom- 
plished is  the  fruit  of  diligent  care,  feeding 
and  watering,  for  the  land  is  not  adapted  to  an 
ideal  lawn.  Unless  you  are  on  the  same  sort 


RENOVATING   THE    OLD    LAWN  9 

of  sandy  soil,  and  are  willing  to  work  incess- 
antly, don't  emulate  a  Newport  lawn,  but 
have  something  better  that  can  be  kept  in 
good  condition  without  a  great  deal  of  labour 
and  expense. 


CHAPTER  II 
How  TO  MAKE  A  LAWN  ONCE  FOR  ALL 

Ground  preparation — Starting  work  ahead  of  the  builders — Uncom- 
fortable newness — The  bugbear  of  inert  soil — Making  new  soil — 
Barnyard  manure  and  humus — Lime — Bad  soil  vs.  bad  seed — Diffi- 
culty of  reconstruction — Clearing— Ploughing— Harrowing— Corn 
or  potatoes  as  a  previous  crop — Cowpeas — Final  Enrichment — 
Weeds. 

MUCH  is  gained  by  deciding  upon  the  site 
for  the  lawn  and  completing  the  prelim- 
inary steps  for  its  preparation  well  in  advance 
of  the  time  that  building  operations  are  com- 
menced. Indeed,  the  aim  should  be  to  lay 
out  the  lawn,  roughly  as  to  outline  but  com- 
plete as  to  the  preparation  of  the  soil,  a  year 
before  the  building  contractors  arrive.  Un- 
fortunately this  is  usually  an  impossible 
course,  and  though  it  may  be  followed  out 
occasionally  on  large  estates,  where  very 
often  there  is  a  great  deal  of  general  con- 
struction work  to  be  carried  out  so  as  to  fit  it 
for  human  habitation,  yet  it  is  so  rarely  a 
practical  possibility  in  connection  with  smaller 
plots  as  to  be  unworthy  of  consideration  now. 


PLATE  IV 


Have  a  good  supply  of  a  rich  uniform  loam,  evenly  spread  over  the  surface 


Finally  rake,  or  harrow,  till  the  top  soil  is  perfectly  smooth  and  freed  from  all 
rubbish,  such  as  roots,  stones,  etc.      There   is    no   better    tool  than  a  rake 

MAKING  THE  SEED  BED 


PLATE  V 


CUTTING  AND  LAYING    SODS 

Turves  are  generally  cut  12  inches  wide,  2  inches  thick,  and  a  yard  long.  They 
can  then  be  rolled  for  transport.  After  relaying,  beat  down  very  firmly.  Turfing 
may  be  done  in  summer  and  the  cutting  of  the  sod  will  kill  deeper-rooted  weeds, 
thus  giving  a  good  grass  lawn;  but  the  process  is  very  expensive 


HOW  TO  MAKE  A  LAWN  ONCE  FOR  ALL       1 1 

At  the  same  time,  even  though  one  may 
not  be  able  to  make  complete  lawns  before 
the  house  is  built,  it  is  very  often  perfectly 
practicable  to  make  the  larger  lawn  areas 
before  the  house  is  built — a  piece  of  foresight 
that  will  go  far  toward  giving  a  comfortable 
setting  and  homelike  atmosphere  to  the  new 
dwelling.  The  appearance  of  newness  is 
always  disturbing,  and  so  long  as  heavy  con- 
struction work  is  being  done  around  the  home, 
there  is  a  feeling  of  unrest  that  is  disturbing 
to  one's  piece  of  mind. 

Within  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  build- 
ing it  is  not  so  easy  to  preserve  intact  the  lawn 
that  was  made  before  the  building  was  begun. 
There  are  excavations  for  the  foundation  of 
the  house  and  for  the  cellar  space,  the  carting 
in  of  bricks,  lumber,  and  other  construction 
material,  a  majority  of  which  will  be  dumped 
down  or  piled  up  very  near  to  the  place  where 
building  is  going  on  so  that  they  may  be 
handled  with  the  least  expenditure  of  labour. 

I  have  seen  the  lawn  laid  two  years  in 
advance  and  that  too  on  a  suburban  lot.  The 
ground  space  which  was  to  be  utilized  by  the 
builders  was  boarded  over  temporarily  and 
although  the  grass  was  lost  for  a  season,  the 


12  LAWNS 

labour  of  repairing  was  very  little.  The 
surface  merely  had  to  be  lightly  scarified, 
fine  surface  soil  scattered  over  it,  and  grass 
seed  distributed.  By  the  middle  of  the  season 
after  this  was  done  there  was  very  little  trace 
of  there  ever  having  been  any  damage  at  all. 

Naturally  when  this  course  is  followed  all 
the  refuse  matter  and  debris  from  the  build- 
ing has  to  be  carefully  carted  away  and  dis- 
posed of  according  to  the  most  convenient 
method.  This  involves  an  amount  of  labour, 
however,  that  is  not  usually  counted  upon 
in  making  an  estimate  for  the  foundations  and 
cellar  of  the  house.  ' 

Yet  it  would  be  a  mighty  good  thing  if  it 
were  always  understood  that  the  excavated 
earth  be  removed  entirely  or  filled  in  at  some 
point  where  it  could  be  properly  covered  with 
fertile  top  soil  in  due  course.  Too  often  this 
inert,  hard  soil,  which  has  never  been  brought 
under  cultivation  (and  which  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  events  would  take  several  years  of 
close  cultivation  before  it  could  be  considered 
a  good  soil),  is  simply  scattered  around,  gen- 
erally as  near  the  house  as  possible,  burying 
completely  whatever  good  soil  was  originally 
there.  If  there  are  unevennesses  in  the 


HOW  TO  MAKE  A  LAWN  ONCE  FOR  ALL       13 

contour  of  the  land,  this  excavated  earth  is 
used  for  the  "fill/*  and  in  after  years  the 
owner  is  consumed  with  wonderment  as  to 
why  this  or  that  particular  spot  in  his  garden 
is  so  unresponsive  to  cultivation. 

If  the  excavated  matter  be  evenly  spread 
over  the  surface  to  a  depth  of  only  a 
few  inches,  and,  after  having  received  a  good 
dressing  of  well  rotted  stable  manure,  the 
whole  is  turned  under  by  thorough  and  care- 
ful trenching,  the  results  will  be  satisfactory, 
for  the  buried  top  soil  is  thus  once  more 
brought  to  the  surface.  While  this  may  be  a 
satisfactory  method  it  is  not  the  course  that 
is  advised.  Far  better,  indeed,  is  it  to  have 
the  dug  out  soil  entirely  removed.  For  a 
good  lawn  you  need,  not  a  passably  fertile 
soil,  but  the  richest  that  the  district  will 
afford,  and  one  that  is  in  good  tilth — just  such 
as  you  want  for  your  vegetable  garden. 

MAKING   A   GOOD    SOIL 

It  is  impossible  to  get  soil  too  good  for 
making  a  good  lawn.  A  depth  of  one  foot  is 
absolutely  necessary,  but  two  feet  is  immeas- 
urably better.  If  the  ground  be  naturally 


14  LAWNS 

good,  and  of  fair  depth  of  top  soil,  the  site 
may  be  put  into  perfect  lawn  condition  by 
deep  ploughing  without  subsoiling. 

If  the  ground  be  poor  the  preliminary 
steps  in  the  making  of  the  lawns  must  consist 
of  heavily  manuring  or  dressing  with  com- 
mercial fertiliser,  the  preference  being  with 
the  former.  On  very  light  soils  organic 
manure  is  vastly  superior  to  the  chemical 
fertiliser  because  it  adds  humus,  with  the 
result  that  it  helps  greatly  to  retain  moisture, 
and,  moreover,  its  actual  food  value  is  much 
more  lasting.  It  may  not  yield  such  an  abun- 
dance of  readily  available  plant  food  at  the 
start,  but  it  will  spread  its  benefits  over  a  much 
greater  time.  Practically,  barnyard  manure 
is  the  best  soil  ameliorator;  the  chemical 
substances  which  are  introduced  for  the  pur- 
pose of  supplying  the  equivalent  food  values 
do  not  achieve  the  same  result  in  the  same 
way. 

Air-slacked  lime  might  be  spread  on  to  the 
soil  at  the  same  time  as  the  manure  or  after 
the  first  dressing  of  the  latter  has  been  turned 
under,  using  it  at  the  rate  of  thirty  or  even 
forty  bushels  to  the  acre.  This  can  be  evenly 
spread  over  the  surface  and  raked  or  harrowed 


HOW  TO  MAKE  A  LAWN  ONCE  FOR  ALL       15 

until  it  is  thoroughly  incorporated  with  the 
upper  layer  of  the  soil.  Lime  assists  clay 
soils  by  flocculating,  and  corrects  the  acidity  of 
all  soils. 

Too  much  insistence  cannot  be  placed  upon 
this  preliminary  thorough  preparation.  Most 
lawn  failures  are  due  to  neglect  of  this  one 
fundamental  thing.  Not  once  in  ten  thou- 
sand times  is  a  bad  result  due  to  bad  or  poor 
seed.  It  pays  to  buy  well  cleaned  seed,  how- 
ever, such  as  is  known  as  "fancy  recleaned," 
rather  than  the  light  weight  lower  priced 
grades  which  though  pure  seed — that  is  free 
from  weeds — contain  also  a  very  large  per- 
centage of  chafF. 

The  very  fact  that  the  lawn  is  the  founda- 
tion of  the  perfect  garden  is  sufficient  reason 
for  insisting  that  it  should  be  made  in  the  best 
way  we  know.  The  expenditure  of  a  few 
extra  dollars  per  acre  at  this  time  will  result 
in  subsequent  annual  savings  that  will  far 
outweigh  the  preliminary  extra  cost.  There 
should  be  no  misconception  on  this  point. 
The  lawn,  more  than  any  other  part  of  the 
garden,  must  from  the  very  nature  of  things 
be  started  properly,  because  it  is  a  permanent 
crop,  so  to  speak.  Shrubberies  can  be  re- 


1 6  LAWNS 

planted;  the  flower  borders  can  be  entirely 
rearranged  year  by  year,  with  but  compara- 
tively little  trouble;  the  vegetable  garden  is 
generally  cultivated,  cropped,  and  fertilised 
twice  a  year;  and,  in  each  of  these  cases,  it  is 
an  easy  matter  to  add  fertility  whenever  it 
becomes  necessary. 

But,  with  the  lawn,  it  is  far  otherwise. 
Its  reconstruction  means  the  making  over  of 
such  a  vast  area  in  comparison  with  the  other 
parts  of  the  garden,  that  though  it  may  need 
it  the  work  is  likely  to  be  deferred  again  and 
again,  We  see  the  result  in  hundreds  of 
suburban  gardens.  The  lawn  surrounding 
the  home  utterly  lacks  that  rich  intense  colour 
that  seems  to  invite  one  within  the  confines 
of  the  garden,  and  the  place  is  devoid  of  that 
reposeful  air  of  comfort  and  luxury  that  the 
well  nourished,  well-kept  lawn  always  im- 
parts. The  greensward  is  the  one  per- 
manent feature  of  the  home  garden  that  is 
expected  to  be  equally  attractive  from  all 
points  of  view,  at  all  times  of  the  year,  and  in 
all  succeeding  seasons. 

The  ground  which  will  eventually  become 
the  lawn  must  be  cleared  of  all  roots  of  trees 
and  weeds  removed,  so  far  as  possible.  The 


HOW  TO  MAKE   A  LAWN  ONCE   FOR  ALL        IJ 

ideal  course  to  follow  is  this.  First  rough 
clear  the  ground.  If  the  site  is  covered  with 
trees  or  tree  stumps  which  must  be  destroyed 
the  tops  can  be  cut  down  and  the  stumps  and 
roots  may  be  blown  up  with  dynamite.  A 
half  pound  charge  will  usually  suffice  for  the 
removal  of  the  average  tree  stump.  The 
split  and  torn  roots  and  stumps  may  be  then 
grubbed  out  of  the  ground  by  hand  labour 
and  thrown  into  convenient  piles.  These 
may  then  be  burned  as  they  stand,  and  the 
ashes  being  distributed  over  the  future  lawn 
site,  will  be  of  material  aid  in  improving  the 
fertility  of  the  soil. 

After  this,  plough  thoroughly,  going  as 
deeply  as  is  reasonably  convenient  and  turn- 
ing the  surface  well  under  in  doing  so.  Now 
harrow  and  cross  harrow,  using  a  sharp  steel- 
toothed  harrow  which  will  also  act  as  a  drag 
to  clear  off  any  roots  and  other  refuse  that 
may  not  have  been  removed  in  the  first  place. 
In  other  words,  prepare  the  site  just  as  though 
you  were  starting  in  to  turn  it  into  good  farm 
land;  fertilising,  ploughing,  and  harrowing, 
using  the  subsoil  plough  to  break  the  hardpam 
if  it  is  necessary  to  do  so,  to  secure  drainage 
on  a  heavy  soil. 


1 8  LAWNS 

GROW   A   FARM    CROP 

Now  give  it  over  to  a  crop  of  corn  or  po- 
tatoes and  for  one  season  before  the  actual 
lawn  making  begins  treat  it  exactly  as  though 
it  were  farm  land.  The  reason  for  this  is  that 
the  regular  cultivation  given  to  either  one  of 
these  crops  will  be  of  the  greatest  benefit  in 
encouraging  a  good  growth  of  the  grass  seed 
when  it  is  sown  the  following  fall  or  spring. 
Moreover,  there  will  be  a  slight  addition  of 
humus,  and  any  latent  weed  seeds  will  have 
germinated  and  the  plantlets  killed  in  the 
process  of  cultivation.  On  lands  deficient 
in  humus  grow  a  crop  of  cowpeas  and 
plough  under  in  the  fall;  then  give  a  dressing 
of  lime. 

The  following  season,  or  in  the  fall  of  the 
same  year,  another  dressing  of  well  rotted 
fertiliser,  followed  by  ploughing  and  harrow- 
ing, will  have  brought  the  soil  into  proper  con- 
dition. Land  that  will  not  grow  a  good  crop  of 
corn  will  never  grow  a  good  lawn.  Attention 
to  the  growing  crop  of  corn  or  potatoes  assures 
cultivation  of  the  land  without  the  labour 
being  a  dead  loss.  After  the  crop  is  har- 
vested spreaH  manure  over  the  entire  surface 


PLATE  VII 


It  is  best  to  lay  a  narrow  border  of  turf  to  make  the  margins  of  the  future 
lawn,  and  scatter  seed  inside  the  area  thus  marked  out 


When  sowing  near  the  edge  swing  the  forearm  in  a  circular  motion, 
letting  the  seed  run  from  the  bottom  of  the  fist 

MAKING  TRUE  EDGES 


HOW  TO  MAKE  A  LAWN  ONCE   FOR  ALL       19 

of  the  ground  at  the  rate  of  twenty  tons  to  the 
acre,  plough  it  under  and  harrow  the  entire 
surface  very  thoroughly,  passing  over  every 
spot  three  or  four  times,  travelling  in  different 
directions,  and  remove  any  stones  or  roots  that 
may  be  brought  to  the  surface.  At  this  time, 
too,  any  unevenness  of  the  contour  must  be 
remedied.  If  there  is  yet  time  allow  the 
first  crop  of  weeds  to  germinate,  harrowing 
the  surface  when  the  plantlets  are  less  than 
an  inch  high. 


CHAPTER  III 
ECONOMICAL  GRADING 

The  Contour — Rolling  or  level  surface — Preferred  exposure — No 
model  grade — Making  the  most  of  the  offscape — Scope  for  the 
artist — The  routine  of  the  work — Marking  roads  and  paths — Re- 
pairing the  grade — Levelling  made  easy — Filling  around  trees — 
Underdrainage  and  its  purpose — Importing  top  soil — Dangers 
involved. 

THE  ideal  lawn,  except  it  be  less  than  a 
quarter  of  an  acre,  is  of  a  gently  rolling  con- 
tour, rather  than  a  perfect  level — Nature  does 
not,  as  a  rule,  lay  down  her  surfaces  in  ab- 
solute levels.  She  does  so  in  a  bog  or  with 
water,  but  surely,  we  do  not  wish  to  create 
the  impression  that  the  spot  selected  for  our 
country  home  has  characteristics  in  com- 
mon with  these.  We  do  not  want  the  im- 
pression that  the  site  is  low  lying  and  damp. 
The  slightly  rolling  contour  obviates  this, 
and,  further,  it  is  pleasing  to  the  eye  in  a 
variety  of  ways.  It  facilitates  the  future 
planting  and  enables  the  landscape  picture  to 
be  more  harmonious,  better  balanced. 

The  very  small  lawn,  however,  had  perhaps 


ECONOMICAL    GRADING  21 

better  be  a  level  one.  There  is  not  within 
its  confines  room  for  rolling  contour  in  pro- 
portion to  the  surrounding  masses  of  shrubs. 
And  further  a  level  spot  sufficient  for  a  tennis 
court  is  desirable  in  the  majority  of  cases.  If 
the  ground  itself  slopes  to  such  an  extent  that 
there  is  any  great  difference  between  the  two 
ends  of  such  a  space,  the  result  will  be  better 
by  resorting  to  a  terrace,  and  here  let  it  be 
said  that  wherever  possible  the  more  pleasing 
effect  will  be  attained  by  placing  the  house 
on  the  high  part  of  the  terrace. 

One  cannot  always  choose  the  exposure  for 
the  lawn.  By  preference  it  should  be  to  the 
south  and  east  rather  than  to  the  north  and 
west,  because  of  the  greater  warmth  of  those 
aspects  and  the  consequent  earlier  appearance 
of  verdure  in  the  spring. 

GETTING   A   GRADE 

In  reality  it  is  far  easier  to  do  the  grading  of 
the  ground  than  it  is  to  explain  lucidly  how 
to  set  about  it.  Since  there  are  no  absolute 
laws  to  be  followed — the  whole  matter  of  the 
grade  being  one  of  artistic  appreciation — it 
is  only  possible  to  explain  the  routine  of  the 


22  LAWNS 

work  and  the  general  principles  that  should 
be  adopted. 

There  can  be  no  such  thing  as  a  model 
grade  for  any  one  place.  There  may  be  a 
model  grade  for  a  certain  combination  of 
circumstances,  but  as  these  are  changeable 
factors,  varying  according  to  the  fancy  or 
taste  of  the  individual,  it  cannot  be  said  that 
any  given  grade  is  the  right  one  for  a  given 
area  at  all  times.  There  may  be  a  variety 
of  equally  good  contours  which  would  fit 
in  with  the  surroundings  just  in  the  same  way 
as  there  are  a  variety  of  bad  contours  which 
cannot  be  harmonious. 

As  a  general  rule  the  grading  should  be  in 
harmony  with  the  general  slope  of  the  land 
and  designed  to  hide,  more  or  less,  paths  and 
driveways  that  would  otherwise  be  too  prom- 
inent. To  take  a  concrete  example,  for  in- 
stance, refer  to  the  illustration,  Plate  xxxi  The 
grading  in  this  case  has  been  very  skilfully 
accomplished  to  obscure  the  driveway  which 
runs  completely  arour.d  the  lawn  and  in  front 
of  the  belt  planting  of  rhododendrons  and 
other  shrubs.  Though  to  all  appearances 
a  perfect  level,  the  entire  lawn  is  actually 
shaped  like  a  shallow  saucer — that  is,  it  is 


ECONOMICAL    GRADING  23 

higher  at  the  sides  than  it  is  in  the  centre. 
The  consequence  is  that,  standing  at  any 
given  point,  the  driveway  is  not  seen,  unless 
the  position  of  the  observer  is  right  on  it. 
Even  then  there  is  only  a  few  feet  of  drive  seen 
in  the  very  foreground.  The  belt  planting 
fits  in  well  with  this  particular  contour. 

Grading  to  a  pleasing  roll  is  a  matter  purely 
of  artistic  appreciation  for  which  no  paper 
rules  can  be  made.  It  is  here  indeed  that  the 
landscape  architect  has  the  greatest  chance 
for  expressing  his  art.  The  best  contours 
are  never  apparent.  So  sure  as  the  rolls  be- 
come obtrusive  and  prominent  they  are  bad. 
An  unbalanced  contour  will  destroy  the  sense 
of  proportion  between  the  lawn  and  its  sur- 
roundings and  very  often  has  the  effect  of 
making  the  house  look  like  an  excrescence 
on  the  landscape  instead  of  nestling  com- 
fortably into  it. 

SEQUENCE    OF    OPERATIONS 

After  the  ground  has  been  smoothed  over 
in  the  first  rough  treatment,  is  the  time  to 
establish  the  grades,  after  which  the  other  con- 
struction work  should  be  attacked  in  this 
order: 


24  LAWNS 

1.  Ploughing,    following   the    first    plough 
with  the  subsoiler  in  the  same  furrow,  if  the 
subsoil  is  hardpan. 

2.  Harrowing,  using  a  disc  harrow  to  cut 
the  clods  and  finishing  with  a  fine  toothed  or 
smoothing  harrow. 

3.  Clearing   and   cleaning,    removing   any 
large  stones  and  roots  of  trees  that  have  been 
left  in  the  ground. 

4.  Seeding,  using  two  bushels  to  the  acre. 

5.  Light  harrowing  to  cover  the  seed  about 
one  half  inch. 

6.  Seeding   again    at   two   bushels   to   the 
acre,  travelling  at   right   angles   to  the   first 
seeding. 

7.  Light  harrowing  to  one  half  inch  depth. 

8.  Rolling  with  not  less  than  three  hundred 
pounds'  pressure. 

After  the  ploughing,  and  before  any  other 
operation  is  begun,  is  the  right  time  to  mark 
the  courses  for  roads  and  paths  which  can  be 
laid  off  on  the  ground  by  means  of  stakes,  and 
excavated.  The  advantage  of  attending  to 
that  detail  at  this  time  is  this:  the  soil  can 
be  easily  taken  up,  as  it  is  loose  and  does  not 
have  to  be  broken  apart,  and  it  will  be  avail- 
able for  filling  in  any  hollows  or  particularly 


ECONOMICAL    GRADING  25 

deep  places  that  have  not  been  sufficiently 
filled  in  in  the  grading  process. 

Of  course  if  the  grading  has  been  per- 
fectly done  there  will  be  no  such  fills  necessary, 
but  in  actual  practice  it  usually  happens  that 
there  are  some  depressions  that  had  better  be 
modified. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  soil  is  not  needed 
in  that  way,  it  can  be  evenly  distributed  over 
the  rest  of  the  surface,  thus  adding  to  the  depth 
of  available  top  soil;  or,  if  the  whole  con- 
struction work  is  being  carried  on  at  one  time, 
it  can  be  deposited  in  the  sites  where  the 
flower  borders  or  shrubberies  are  to  be 
planted.  The  ideal  method,  however,  is  to 
have  the  larger  plantings  done  before  the 
seeding  of  the  lawn,  thus  avoiding  traffic  over 
the  surface  before  the  grass  becomes  es- 
tablished. 

LEVELLING   MADE     EASY 

The  eye  cannot  be  trusted  to  make  perfect 
levels.  It  will  inevitably,  and  quite  uncon- 
sciously, seek  to  adjust  the  surface  of  the 
lawn  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  a  generally 
harmonious  contour  with  the  general  run  of 


26  LAWNS 

the  ground.  Therefore  some  mechanical 
means  must  be  adopted  to  secure  the  perfect 
level. 

The  practical  way,  when  there  is  no  en- 
gineer or  landscape  architect  engaged,  is  to 
drive  stakes  here  and  there  in  the  ground, 
and  sight  from  any  one  to  a  third  stake  by 
balancing  a  carpenter's  level  on  the  top  of 
stake  number  one.  By  carrying  this  out  over 
a  series  of  three  stakes  in  various  directions, 
using  each  stake  in  turn  as  a  support  for  the 
instrument,  a  perfect  level  can  be  assured. 
When  once  a  stake  has  been  driven  or  raised 
to  the  requisite  height,  it  should  be  marked 
with  paint,  and  it  should  remain  in  position 
until  the  final  steps  of  the  ground  preparation 
are  complete.  By  using  a  straight  edged 
stiff  board  that  will  not  sag,  balancing  it 
between  two  stakes,  the  ground  can  be  brought 
up  or  cut  down  to  the  requisite  level;  and  the 
intervening  spaces  may  be  filled  in  and 
levelled  either  by  means  of  working  a  board 
over  the  surface  in  the  same  way  as  plasterers 
or  masons  work  or  by  relying  on  the  eye 
and  using  a  rake. 

Another  method  is  by  using  the  spirit 
level  and  theodolite,  when  stakes  can  be 


ECONOMICAL    GRADING  2f 

driven  at  various  points  and  the  height  of  a 
fill  indicated  by  marking  on  the  side  of  a  stick 
the  height  of  the  future  level.  Where  soil 
is  to  be  removed  a  hole  is  dug  and  a  stake  in- 
serted at  its  bottom  is  sunk  to  the  right  level. 
A  distinct  scheme  of  marking  should  be 
adopted,  a  common  practice  being  to  paint  the 
top  of  such  a  stake  with  red. 

FILLING   AROUND   TREES 

Any  specimen  trees  with  well  developed 
trunks  should  be  retained  so  far  as  practicable. 
The  effect  of  well-established  specimens 
around  the  home  is  worth  a  great  deal  of 
effort  to  retain  them.  If  only  of  moderate 
size  it  will  possibly  be  better  to  raise  them 
bodily,  doing  the  work  preferably  in  the  winter 
time  when  the  ball  is  frozen,  after  making 
the  necessary  provision  for  it  in  advance. 

With  old  trees,  or  with  those  that  are  in- 
digenous, not  nursery  grown,  the  risk  involved 
in  disturbing  the  roots  is  often  too  great.  In 
such  cases  it  will  be  better  to  leave  them  in 
situ  and  protect  the  base  of  the  trunk  from 
actual  contact  with  the  filled  in  earth.  By 
no  means  bury  the  ball.  Build  up  around  the 


28  LAWNS 

base  of  the  trees  with  stones  loosely  piled  one 
upon  the  other  so  that  the  air  can  have 
free  access.  If  possible  make  this  stone 
cylinder  clear  of  the  trunk  by  some  few 
inches.  A  wall  of  this  type  (see  Plate  xv) 
will  in  nearly  every  instance  preserve  the  tree 
in  its  normal  health.  In  the  case  of  a  tree 
interfering  with  the  slope  of  a  terrace,  the 
same  method  should  be  employed  making 
the  stone  wall,  however,  only  on  the  side  where 
it  is  necessary  to  retain  the  earth  (Plate  xv). 

UNDERDRAINAGE 

It  is  useless  to  attempt  making  a  lawn  on  a 
site  that  is  so  wet  that  it  holds  water  in  pools 
after  a  rain.  Wherever  these  conditions  are 
encountered  a  system  of  underdrainage  must 
be  put  in.  The  matter  of  tile  draining  is  not 
properly  a  detail  of  lawn  construction,  how- 
ever, for  it  should  be  given  attention  in  all 
parts  of  estate  construction.  Drainage  has 
the  effect  of  improving  the  fertility  of  the  soil 
by  making  it  warmer,  which  also  causes 
vegetation  to  start  earlier  in  the  spring.  From 
these  points  alone  it  is  a  very  essential  detail  in 
all  garden  work.  The  bright  green  appear- 


PLATE  IX 


All  sites,  unless  exceptionally  dry,   are   improved  by    drainage;  it  makes  the 
soil  warmer  and  growth  starts  earlier  in  spring 


On  steep  slopes  or  terraces  turf  can  be  fastened  by  pegs  or  slats  until  they 
get  established  (see  Plate  XIV).     Or  deep  rooting  grasses  may  be  sown 

DRAINING  AND  TERRACING 


ECONOMICAL   GRADING  2Q 

ance  of  the  early  lawn  is  particularly  grati- 
fying. 

All  heavy,  cold  soils  will  be  improved  by 
underdraining.  In  general,  on  lands  which 
need  drainage,  tile  should  be  laid  three  to 
six  feet  deep  and  at  a  distance  of  six  to  fifteen 
feet  apart.  There  can  be  no  absolute  rule  for 
the  number  of  drains  necessary.  It  is  pos- 
sible to  over  drain,  but  this  is  a  result  that  is 
not  likely  to  occur  on  a  majority  of  soils. 
Sandy  and  very  light  leachy  soils  do  not  us- 
ually need  drainage. 

The  drain  ditch  should  be  dug  by  a  special 
draining  spade  which  is  very  long  and  narrow, 
and  care  must  be  taken  that  the  whole  system 
of  tiles  runs  on  a  gentle  uniform  slope  to  the 
lowest  portion  of  the  estate  or  to  any  other 
point  where  there  is  a  suitable  outlet.  Drain 
tiles  are  of  various  sizes,  and  the  smaller  (two 
inch)  tile  should  be  used  for  the  secondary 
or  branch  drains,  larger  ones  being  employed 
for  the  main  courses. 

A  decision  should  be  taken  in  the  question  of 
drainage  at  the  very  first,  so  as  to  allow  time 
for  the  proper  settling  of  the  soil  in  the 
trenches.  Six  months  before  sowing  the  grass 
seed  is  none  too  soon. 


30  LAWNS 

IMPORTING    TOP    SOIL 

Very  often  it  is  necessary  to  bring  from  a 
distance  good  top  soil  for  the  purpose  of 
filling  in  hollows  or  for  improving  the  natural 
soil  of  the  site  so  as  to  get  a  sufficient  depth 
for  the  grass  roots.  Inasmuch  as  different 
grasses  have  likings  for  different  soils,  it  will 
readily  be  seen  that  the  perfect  lawn  must 
consist  of  a  uniform  soil. 

When  importing  top  soil  from  a  distance 
there  is  great  danger  of  unevenness  in  the 
growth  of  the  grasses  on  the  future  lawn 
unless  precautions  are  taken  to  insure  this 
uniformity  of  surface.  No  matter  what  soil 
you  are  dealing  with,  it  is  far  better  to  thinly 
spread  the  additions  over  the  entire  surface 
rather  than  to  fill  in  patches. 

Where  a  rich  top  soil  is  being  introduced 
from  another  source  and  there  is  a  sufficient 
quantity  available  to  make  the  entire  lawn 
from  the  new  soil,  there  will  be  no  necessity 
to  more  than  loosen  the  original.  There- 
fore grading  should  be  roughly  finished  be- 
fore the  new  soil  is  introduced. 

Where  the  supplies  are  being  drawn  from 
various  different  sources,  bring  in  the  heavier 


ECONOMICAL   GRADING  3! 

soil  first,  finishing  off  with  the  lighter,  finer, 
and  more  friable.  The  only  remedy  for 
a  patchy  lawn,  one  part  being  on  clay  and  the 
other  part  on  sand,  is  to  turn  under  the  entire 
sod  and  start  remaking  the  lawn. 

The  danger  in  imported  soil  when  drawn 
from  unknown  sources  lies  in  the  possibility — 
I  had  better  indeed  say  probability — of  its 
containing  weed  seeds,  which,  worse  still, 
would  be  different  in  the  different  lots  of  soil. 


CHAPTER  IV 
WHICH  is  BETTER:  TURF  OR  SEED? 

Two  methods  of  lawn  making— Early  advantages  from  turf— Why 
seed  is  preferred — Facts  against  turfing — A  comparison  of  costs — 
When  to  sow — Thick  or  thin  seeding  ? — How  to  broadcast — Making 
terraces. 

THERE  are  two  methods  by  which  a  lawn 
may  be  established,  by  turf  or  by  seed.  As 
to  which  of  these  shall  be  adopted  must  be 
decided  by  the  special  circumstances  in  each 
case.  By  far  the  greater  number  of  lawns 
are  made  from  seed  for  the  very  good  reason 
that  the  cost  is 'so  much  less  than  when  turf 
is  used.  In  fact  on  a  question  of  cost  there 
is  absolutely  no  room  for  comparison.  The 
preliminary  preparation  of  the  ground  in 
either  case  must  be  the  same,  and  the  five 
dollars  that  would  purchase  a  sufficiency  of 
seed  for  one  acre  would  go  a  very  small  way 
in  the  purchase  of  turves,  which  cost  generally 
about  eight  cents  a  square  foot. 

ADVANTAGES    OF    TURF 

The  advantages  of  turf  are  these:   that  by 
securing  turf  from  a  lawn  of  known   quality 
32 


Pl^TE    X 


IN  THE  SOD  NURSERY 

A  practical  method  of  lawn  maintenance  on  large  estates.       Grow  sods  in 
an  out-of-the-way  place  to  have  a  supply  ready  to  repair  the  formal  lawn 


PLATE  XI 


REPAIRING  WITH  TURF 

The  best  way  to  mend  worn  spots.     Remove  the  old  turf,  making  straight 

edges;  loosen  the  soil  and  add  a  little  fresh  loam.     Lay  the  new  turf ,  fitting  it 

osely  and  pound  well  so  as  to  make  a  good  union  with  the  soil.  Then  water 


WHICH  is  BETTER:  TURF  OR  SEED?    33 

you  can  (provided  your  soil  condition  is  right) 
reproduce  a  lawn  of  a  given  grass.  Secondly 
— and  this  is  by  far  the  greater  advantage — 
you  get  an  immediate  effect  which  is  sometimes 
worth  the  extra  expenditure  of  money,  espe- 
cially surrounding  a  house.  For  narrow 
borders  of  grass  between  the  walks  and  flower 
beds  turf  is  desirable.  It  is  also  the  proper 
way  of  marking  the  boundaries  of  a  newly 
laid  out  piece  of  ground  before  seeding. 
Turfing  the  edges  assures  a  true  line,  and  the 
seeding  of  the  body  can  be  done  more  thor- 
oughly. 

Sometimes  it  becomes  desirable  to  make  a 
lawn  in  the  summer  time,  in  which  case  it  is 
far  better  to  rely  on  laid  sods.  If  cut  and 
relaid  with  as  little  delay  as  possible  on  pro- 
perly prepared  ground — the  surface  being 
raked  loosely  so  as  to  assure  immediate  con- 
tact with  the  roots — it  will  surely  grow.  Turf 
can  be  laid  at  any  time  when  the  ground  can 
be  worked,  and  is  invaluable  in  that  respect 
where  cost  is  not  a  consideration.  It  is 
understood,  however,  that  in  all  such  cases, 
it  must  be  watered  persistently  and  a  lawn 
made  thus  will  need  for  the  first  twelve  months 
of  its  existence  a  great  deal  more  attention 


34  LAWNS 

than  one  made   from  seed    in  the  ordinary 
way. 

FACTS   AGAINST  TURFING 

Though  turf  will  give  immediate  effect  the 
seeded  lawn  will  be  every  bit  as  satisfactory 
twelve  months  later,  and  in  a  great  many  cases 
it  will  be  greatly  superior.  One  great  prac- 
tical disadvantage  to  laid  sod  is  the  impossi- 
bility of  making  absolute  unions  between  the 
turves.  It  is  always  necessary  to  fill  in  with 
good  loam,  sprinkling  over  it  a  little  lawn 
grass  mixture.  When  this  germinates,  there 
is  a  possibility  of  different  grasses  securing 
the  early  foot-hold,  with  a  result  that  the 
entire  surface  of  the  lawn  is  marked  out  with 
a  series  of  lines  forming  rectangular  patterns. 

It  is  difficult  to  obtain  really  good  sod  in  any 
quantity.  As  a  rule  it  is  not  for  sale,  but  it 
can  occasionally  be  secured  as  a  consequence 
of  the  breaking  up  of  some  old  estate.  Even 
if  in  such  a  case  you  can  get  the  sod  for 
nothing,  the  expense  of  cutting,  lifting,  cart- 
ing, and  finally  the  relaying  and  beating  down 
will  be  very  great. 

Where   turf    is   laid   on   a   heavy   soil   the 


WHICH  is  BETTER:  TURF  OR  SEED  ?     35 

effects  of  winter  heaving  are  likely  to  be  very 
marked;  and  if  the  lawn  is  laid  in  the  spring 
and  it  is  not  abundantly  watered  all  through 
the  summer,  it  is  certain  that  the  drying  out 
will  result  in  gaping  channels  all  over  the 
surface.  As  a  rule  it  will  take  two  or  three 
years  before  a  laid  lawn  will  assume  the 
absolute  uniformity  of  colour  and  texture 
that  comes  from  thick  seeding,  and  which 
is  the  ideal. 

Sods  are  generally  cut  for  convenience's 
sake  three  feet  long  and  one  foot  wide,  and  in 
quantity  can  usually  be  bought  at  twenty  cents 
a  turf.  I  know  of  one  man  who  has  developed 
the  regular  business  of  growing  sods  for  sale. 
His  trade  is  in  a  city  that  is  famous  for  its 
well  kept  gardens.  He  uses  only  the  highest 
grade  lawn  mixture  for  raising  of  his  crop 
which  is  given  careful  attention  from  first 
to  last  and  he  gets  ten  cents  per  square  foot, 
thus  realizing  a  profit  of  between  five  and 
six  hundred  dollars  to  the  acre  every  three 
years.  No  turfs  are  cut  and  sold  under  that 
age.  This  is  necessary,  in  fact,  because  the 
Kentucky  blue  grass  will  not  have  made  a 
proper  growth  before  this  time.  Turf  raised 
thus,  and  sold  locally,  would  make  a  better 


36  LAWNS 

lawn  than  the  average  turf  that  is  offered 
elsewhere,  because  the  old  and  new  soil  con- 
ditions would  be  nearly  identical,  and  the 
seeded-over  portions  would  very  quickly 
develop  a  very  similar  grass  to  that  which 
was  bought  in  the  turf. 

On  well  kept  larger,  private  estates  it  is 
a  common  practice  to  grow  turves  in  some  out 
of  the  way  corner  so  as  to  have  a  supply  avail- 
able for  patching  up  or  repairing  any  worn 
places  that  occur  on  the  lawn  in  close  prox- 
imity to  the  residence. 

A   COMPARISON   OF    COSTS 

The  average  workman  can  lay  in  a  day  and 
do  it  perfectly  about  five  or  six  hundred  square 
feet  of  sod,  giving  thorough  attention  to  level- 
ling and  making  complete  union.  An  expert 
can  cover  as  much  as  eight  hundred  square 
feet  or  more.  This  is  not  work  that  can 
ordinarily  be  done  by  a  common  day 
labourer,  and  will  generally  cost  two  dollars 
a  day.  The  cost  for  laying  an  acre  at  this 
rate  would  therefore  be  about  one  hundred 
and  sixty  dollars.  Compare  this  with  the 
cost  of  seeding.  To  begin  with  lawn  grass 


WHICH  is  BETTER:  TURF  OR  SEED  ?     37 

seed  at  four  bushels  to  the  acre  which 
is  the  proper  quantity,  will  cost  from  twenty- 
to  twenty-five  dollars.  The  sowing  can  be 
done  by  one  man  in  half  a  day  at  a  cost  of 
certainly  not  more  than  one  dollar.  Putting 
all  these  facts  together,  and  bearing  in  mind 
that  in  two  years  there  will  not  be  anything 
to  choose  between  the  lawns,  is  it  worth  while 
to  bother  with  sods  ?  The  cost  of  the  pre- 
liminary preparations  for  seeding  or  sodding 
will  not  amount  to  less  than  seven  and  a  half 
dollars  for  one  acre.  Ploughing  can  be  done 
by  one  man  in  one  day,  and  a  team  should  be 
procurable  under  ordinary  conditions  for 
five  dollars.  Harrowing  can  be  done  in  half 
a  day.  This  figure  is  based  upon  the  as- 
sumption that  there  is  good  land  available. 
Subsoiling  will  add  another  five  dollars  and 
any  extra  work  in  the  preparation,  such  as 
cleaning,  the  removal  of  tree  stumps,  rocks, 
etc.,  would  have  to  be  estimated  for  spe- 
cially. 

LAYING    SODS 

Two  men  are  necessary  to  handle  turves, 
both  in  the  cutting  and  in  the  laying,  whereas 
one  man  can  do  the  sowing.  A  large  turf  is 


38  LAWNS 

superior  to  a  small  one  because  there  will  be 
fewer  joints  when  dealing  with  the  larger 
pieces.  But  it  is  not  practicable  to  handle 
them  in  larger  sizes  than  3  x  I  feet.  There 
is  a  special  tool  made  for  taking  up  the 
turves  known  as  a  turfing  iron.  This  is 
essentially  a  long-shafted  spade  with  a 
thin,  flat  blade  which  can  be  pushed  under 
the  turf,  cutting  the  roots  and  leaving  the 
flat  sod  ready  to  be  rolled.  Generally  a 
common  spade  is  used,  two  men  working 
together,  the  one  rolling  the  turf  as  it  is  cut 
by  the  other  man. 

When  relaying  on  the  new  ground  the  turf 
is  unrolled  in  position,  any  little  unevenness 
of  the  ground  or  of  the  thickness  of  the  turf 
being  repaired  as  the  work  proceeds.  It  is 
not  easy  to  make  a  perfectly  level  surface.  A 
slight  difference  in  the  compactness  of  the 
roots  of  the  grasses  in  the  turf  will  lead  to 
hollows  and  hummocks  in  the  near  future, 
which  have  to  be  filled  up  by  additions  of  soil 
above  or  under  the  turf;  or  the  hummocks 
have  to  be  beaten  down  by  means  of  a  heavy 
piece  of  wood  fixed  to  a  handle  at  a  suitable 
angle  (like  a  broom),  or  the  back  of  a  spade 
is  used.  The  latter  is  the  more  likely,  not 


WHICH  is  BETTER:  TURF  OR  SEED  ?    39 

because  it  is  the  best  but  because  it  is  the 
most  handy. 

After  the  turf  is  laid  as  evenly  as  possible, 
and  the  unions  filled  with  fresh  soil,  there 
comes  the  very  essential  work  of  beating. 
This  is  really  hard  work.  The  turves  must 
be  beaten  and  pounded  down  to  ensure  in- 
timate contact  with  the  soil  below.  If  this  is 
not  done  the  roots  fail  to  take  hold  and  the 
grasses  die  after  a  few  days  of  dry,  hot 
weather.  Watering  will  help  a  great  deal,  and 
should  be  done  all  summer  on  a  newly  laid 
turf  lawn. 

On  terraces  and  banks  sods  are  better  than 
seed,  because  they  can  be  fixed  in  position 
by  means  of  pegs  eight  or  ten  inches  long 
driven  into  the  ground.  If  there  is  not  enough 
turf  of  the  right  kind  to  dress  the  bank  com- 
pletely, small  pieces  may  be  planted  as  "cut- 
tings" and  seed  sown  on  the  spaces  between 
or  around.  Terraces  are  prone  to  dry  out  in 
summer  and  the  turf  method  is  calculated  to 
overcome  this  tendency  to  loss. 

WHEN   TO    SOW 

In  the  greater  part  of  the  country  where 
lawns  are  maintained,  that  is  in  the  entire 


4-O  LAWNS 

temperate  zone,  there  are  two  periods  of  the 
year  when  new  lawns  may  be  successfully 
seeded — April  to  May,  and  again  in  Septem- 
ber. There  is  no  best  date  for  sowing.  In 
the  Northern  States  September  and  November 
are  generally  preferred  because  the  risk  of 
sudden  drying  out  by  excessively  hot  weather 
after  the  seeds  germinate  is  avoided.  In 
the  Southern  States  November  sees  the 
greatest  amount  of  seeding.  When  seeding  is 
done  in  the  spring  it  is  usually,  according  to 
location,  sometime  between  February  and 
May,  the  earlier  date  of  course  referring  to 
the  South.  The  point  in  spring  seeding  is 
to  get  it  done  as  soon  as  possible  after  the 
ground  is  in  workable  condition.  I  have 
seen  lawns  successfully  sown  in  June  and 
even  in  July,  but  the  practice  is  not  to  be 
generally  recommended  as  in  the  majority 
of  cases,  and  with  the  majority  of  people, 
failure  would  result. 

If  it  is  inconvenient  to  sow  the  lawn  in 
the  fall  it  is  a  good  practice  to  have  the  ground 
thoroughly  prepared  then  and  seed  at  any 
time  during  the  winter.  If  the  seed  is 
scattered  over  the  surface  of  the  snow  it  will 
be  washed  into  the  earth  when  the  thaws  come 


WHICH  is  BETTER:  TURF  OR  SEED?    41 

and  brought  into  such  intimate  contact  with 
the  soil  that  its  early  germination  and  per- 
fect stand  is  a  foregone  conclusion.  On 
very  wet  soils  seeding  in  the  summer  time  is 
advisable. 

For  summer  seeding,  oats  at  the  rate  of  one 
quart  to  three  hundred  may  be  added  to  the 
regular  lawn  grass  mixture.  This  grass  ger- 
minates very  quickly  and  endures  the  hot  weath- 
er well.  It  will  act  as  a  "nurse"  to  the  other 
grasses  which  will  be  thus  encouraged  to 
make  a  growth.  The  oats  will  not  interfere 
with  the  lawn  grasses  and  they  are  killed  en- 
tirely by  the  cutting  of  the  mower,  which 
prevents  their  seeding.  So  marked  is  the 
nursing  effect  of  oats  that  it  is  a  valuable 
addition  at  any  time  when  sowing  a  lawn 
mixture  on  banks  or  terraces.  Its  quick 
root  development  assists  greatly  in  holding  the 
soil  until  the  permanent  grasses  come  into 
possession.  This  is  a  practical  method  of 
obviating  the  necessity  of  turfing  on  terraces. 

THE    ART   OF    SOWING 

Lawn  grass  seed  is  sown  broadcast.  It 
must  be  evenly  distributed  over  the  entire 
surface  of  the  ground,  and  at  the  rate  of  not 


42  LAWNS 

less  than  four  bushels  to  the  acre.  For 
smaller  areas  allow  one  quart  of  seed  to  three- 
hundred  square  feet. 

Select  a  quiet  day  for  the  work  of  seeding. 
Don't  be  tempted  to  hurry,  and,  if  the  day 
selected  should  turn  out  to  be  windy,  postpone 
the  operation.  The  grass  seed  is  so  fine  and 
so  easily  caught  by  the  wind  that  an  even 
distribution  becomes  impossible  if  the  day 
be  not  quiet.  A  very  slight  wind  will  do  no 
harm,  but  there  must  not  be  enough  movement 
to  carry  the  fine  seed  away  from  the  area 
directly  under  the  hand;  otherwise  the  mix- 
tures will  be  separated. 

When  sowing  keep  the  hand  low,  stoop 
down  and  taking  a  handful  of  seed  with  the 
fingers  of  the  hands  lightly  bent  and  slightly 
separated  let  the  arm  swing  freely  in  a  semi- 
circle so  as  to  scatter  the  seed  well  and  evenly. 
A  reference  to  Plate  vi  will  enable  the 
reader  to  form  some  idea  of  the  correct  and 
incorrect  methods  of  seeding. 

THICK   OR  THIN    SEEDING  ? 

It  is  better  to  sow  thickly  than  to  be  sparing 
of  the  seed  for  the  simple  reason  that  the 
weeds  have  less  chance  to  take  hold  of  the 


WHICH  is  BETTER:  TURF  OR  SEED  ?   43 

ground  if  it  is  abundantly  occupied  by  the 
grass  plants.  Another  advantage  is  that  the 
crowding  of  the  plants  results  in  a  finer  leaf, 
which  is  often  very  desirable.  Seed  is  far 
cheaper  than  the  labour  that  would  be  involved 
in  digging  out  the  weeds  later  on.  A  more  even 
distribution  of  seed  is  made  by  going  over 
the  ground  twice,  using  one  half  the  quantity 
each  time,  and  making  the  tracks  of  the  second 
seeding  at  right  angles  with  those  of  the  first. 
Broadcast  the  seed  as  you  walk  up  and  down 
the  whole  patch  until  it  has  been  completely 
covered,  making  parallel  tracks.  Immedi- 
ately after  the  seed  is  sown  the  whole  area 
should  be  lightly  harrowed  or  raked  so  as  to 
just  cover  the  seed.  Then  roll.  Do  this 
after  each  seeding  and  finish  off  with  a  heavy 
roller,  weighing  not  less  than  three  hundred 
pounds  if  possible,  to  make  the  surface  com- 
pact and  to  insure  a  thorough  contact  of  the 
seed  and  the  soil.  Firming  of  the  soil  means 
good  germination  of  the  seed. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  FINE  ART  OF  MOWING,  ROLLING, 
AND  WATERING 

On  the  new  lawn — Rolling  the  keynote  of  success — Winter  heaving — 
Springtime  repairs — Mowing  essential — How  often  to  cut — The 
clippings— Effects  of  insufficient  cutting— Weather  conditions— When 
to  mow  and  water— The  fallacy  of  sprinkling— How  to  use  the 
hose. 

ROLLING,  mowing,  and  watering  are  the 
three  essential  details  which  require  attention 
every  year,  and  they  must  be  carried  out 
thoroughly  year  after  year,  without  any  sort 
of  lessened  vigour  because  the  lawn  is  es- 
tablished. The  whole  object  and  aim  of  the 
after  attention  is  to  secure  a  uniform  sod  and 
even  texture  over  the  entire  surface  of  the 
lawn. 

ATTENTION   THE    FIRST   YEAR 

A  fall-sown  lawn  will  hardly  stand  in  need 
of  mowing  the  same  season.  If  the  seeding 
was  done  in  the  spring  or  summer  the  grass 
must  be  cut  as  soon  as  it  has  attained  a  height 

44 


PLATE  XTII 


STEPPING  A  SLOPE 

This    prevents    washing    during  heavy   rains,  makes  walking    easier,    and 
looks  well— far  better  than  a  worn  track  ! 


MOWING,    ROLLING,    AND    WATERING       45 

of  about  three  inches.  But  don't  be  in  a  hurry 
over  this  first  trim.  Use  a  scythe  by  prefer- 
ence. You  will  not  then  cut  too  close  to  the 
roots.  Leave  the  cut  grass  on  the  lawn  to 
act  as  a  mulch. 

After  the  grass  has  commenced  to  grow  free- 
ly it  may  be  cut  once  in  ten  days,  and  also 
rolled.  In  its  first  season  the  grass  will  not 
be  rooted  very  firmly  and  the  pulling  of  the 
knives  of  the  average  lawn  mower  will  not 
tend  to  help  things  along.  If  a  lawn  mower 
is  used  see  to  it  that  the  knives  are  set  high, 
and  keep  the  grass  about  two  inches  long  all 
the  season.  In  extreme  hot  weather  the 
cutting  may  be  lighter;  rolling  would  be  of 
more  service. 

The  new  lawn  needs  rolling  frequently  to 
make  the  roots  as  firm  as  possible,  and  the 
heavier  the  roller,  the  better.  One  man 
cannot  be  expected  to  haul  a  roller  heavier 
than  three  hundred  pounds,  but  a  thou- 
sand-pound machine  would  be  none  too 
heavy. 

As  the  fall  approaches  the  mowing  machine 
may  be  set  to  cut  closer  than  it  was  in  the 
summer,  but  cutting  must  cease  for  the  year 
about  the  middle  of  September. 


46  LAWNS 

ROLLING   OLD    LAWNS 

Nothing  conduces  more  to  the  maintenance 
of  perfect  condition  in  the  lawn  than  persistent 
and  early  rolling  each  year;  not  that  rolling 
should  be  omitted  any  time  during  the  season, 
but  it  is  especially  necessary  in  the  early 
spring.  Just  as  soon  as  the  ground  becomes 
workable  and  the  grass  starts  into  growth 
the  whole  surface  should  be  thoroughly 
rolled  again  and  again  to  effectively  over- 
come the  loosening  effects  of  the  freezing  and 
thawing  of  winter. 

The  heavier  the  land,  as  a  rule,  the  more 
necessary  does  rolling  become.  Everyone 
is  familiar  with  the  manner  in  which  the  plants 
in  the  herbaceous  border  are  heaved  out  of 
the  ground  by  the  alternate  thawing  and 
freezing  of  winter.  It  is  also  one  of  the  most 
potent  sources  of  trouble  in  the  strawberry 
patch,  and  is  one  of  the  strongest  arguments 
advanced  against  fall  planting.  The  same 
thing  happens  to  the  grass  plants,  the  opening 
of  heavy  soils  is  persistent  and  continuous, 
and  will  play  havoc  even  with  a  well  made 
lawn  unless  persistent  steps  be  taken  each 
spring  to  counteract  it. 


MOWING,    ROLLING,    AND    WATERING       47 

Top  dressings  of  good  garden  loam — rich 
fertiliser  is  not  indicated — and  rolling  again 
and  again  will  accomplish  wonders.  It  is 
hardly  possible  to  make  the  surface  of  the 
lawn  too  compact  by  this  process.  A  roller 
which  will  exert  a  pressure  of  a  thousand  or 
even  fifteen  hundred  pounds  will  not  be  too 
heavy.  Therefore  use  as  heavy  a  piece  of 
machinery  as  you  can  comfortably  handle. 
What  is  known  as  the  water  ballast  roller, 
which  consists  of  two  hollow  cylinders  into 
which  water  or  sand  can  be  poured  to  ballast 
and  attain  the  necessary  weight,  should  find 
a  place  in  the  equipment  of  every  country 
estate  where  a  lawn  of  any  large  dimensions 
is  to  be  maintained  in  good  condition.  These 
rollers  are  made  on  what  is  called  the 
sectional  pattern,  that  is,  they  consist  of  two 
or  three  distinct  cylinders  by  means  of  which 
the  machine  can  be  turned  without  tearing 
the  surface  of  the  lawn;  the  two  sections 
operate  in  different  directions. 

WHEN    TO    MOW 

Mowing  is  necessary  inasmuch  as  it  pre- 
vents the  plants  from  going  to  seed;  and  the 


48  LAWNS 

prevention  of  seeding  encourages  vigorous 
vegetative  growth,  which  means  abundant 
foliage  and  bright  healthy  green  colour.  Noth- 
ing will  work  greater  injury  than  seed  for- 
mation. It  exhausts  the  plant,  and  with 
many  of  the  grasses  which  are  included  in 
lawn  mixtures  will  inevitably  result  in  their 
dying  out. 

If  a  lawn  mower  of  the  ordinary  rotary 
knife  type  is  used  there  is  a  tendency  (espe- 
cially in  the  younger  age  of  the  lawn)  to  set 
the  knives  so  as  to  cut  too  close  to  the  ground. 
This  is  trying  in  a  variety  of  ways.  De- 
priving the  plant  of  nearly  all  its  foliage 
taxes  its  vitality  until  it  shall  have  made 
another  start.  In  the  meantime,  as  fre- 
quently happens  in  the  early  days  of  spring, 
there  is  a  likelihood  of  the  weather  becom- 
ing suddenly  hot  and  dry.  The  surface  of 
the  ground  being  exposed  to  the  direct  action 
of  the  sun's  rays,  and  especially  if  there  has 
been  any  large  degree  of  feeding  during  the 
winter,  the  tax  on  the  plants'  constitution, 
as  may  be  easily  realised,  is  very  severe.  It 
is  quite  possible,  indeed,  to  burn  out  some  of 
the  grasses  in  this  way  in  the  very  earliest 
days  of  spring. 


MOWING,    ROLLING,    AND    WATERING       49 

But  frequent  mowing  is  necessary  owing 
to  the  vigorous  growth  that  the  grass  will 
make,  and  it  is  generally  better  to  mow 
often,  say  once  a  week,  with  the  knives 
set  high,  than  it  is  to  allow  the  grass  to  attain 
several  inches  and  then  with  a  low  set  mower, 
to  cut  it  right  down  close  to  the  ground.  It 
is  a  mistake  to  set  apart  a  definite  day  for 
mowing,  and  then  do  the  work  because  it  is 
on  the  schedule.  One  must  be  guided  by 
conditions,  and  if  growth  is  very  rapid  mow- 
ing becomes  necessary  at  very  short  intervals. 

In  general  the  knives  should  not  be  set 
less  than  two  inches  high,  especially  on  lawns 
which  are  subject  to  traffic  or  usage  of  any 
sort.  But  if  the  grass  has  been  allowed  to  get 
very  long,  the  cutting  should  not  be  so  close 
at  first,  and  it  would  be  better  to  use  a  scythe. 

On  areas  of  grass  close  around  the  house, 
on  tennis  lawns,  and  as  edgings  to  flower  beds 
or  shrubbery  groups  bordering  walks  and 
drive  ways,  persistent  cutting,  and  main- 
taining the  grass  as  near  as  possible  at  one 
uniform  height  throughout  the  year,  con- 
duces immensely  to  the  general  tone  of  neat- 
ness of  the  entire  establishment.  A  garden 
where  these  features  receive  attention  only 


5O  LAWNS 

occasionally,  at  somewhat  lengthy  intervals, 
looks  irregular  at  all  times,  and  when  a  great 
length  of  grass  is  removed,  exposing  the  lower 
more  or  less  yellowish  under-texture,  there  is 
an  unpleasant  alternation  of  ragged  long 
green  and  short  yellowish  brown.  Of  course 
if  clover  has  been  used  freely  in  the  mixture, 
and  if  some  of  the  fescues  are  growing,  the 
yellow  effect  of  a  closely  cut  lawn  is  not  ap- 
parent, that  is,  so  long  as  these  maintain  their 
hold  on  the  ground.  But  in  a  properly  pre- 
pared soil  and  a  properly  managed  lawn  they 
will  be  eventually  crowded  out  as  the  per- 
manent grasses  gain  control. 

LEAVE    OR    REMOVE    THE    CLIPPINGS  ? 

The  clippings  from  the  use  of  the  lawn 
mower  may,  generally,  be  left  on  the  surface 
of  the  lawn,  not  raked  off.  If  the  lawn  be 
given  constant  attention,  and  cut  whenever 
it  needs  it,  so  as  to  keep  it  as  uniformly  as 
possible  at  a  height  of  about  two  inches,  the 
clippings  cannot  be  considered  as  an  ob- 
jection. Very  often  indeed  they  are  positive- 
ly beneficial,  as  they  act  as  a  mulch  to  the 
newly  exposed  soil.  If  a  suddenly  hot  spell 


MOWING,    ROLLING,    AND    WATERING       51 

follows  upon  the  cutting  time  the  advantage 
of  this  slight  protection  to  the  soil  is  consid- 
erable. 

If  the  grass  has  been  allowed  to  grow  to  a 
considerable  length,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
rake  off  the  clippings,  and  especially  so  if  the 
soil  is  moist  and  very  rich,  because  the  cut 
grass  will  hang  too  heavily  about  the  roots, 
and  rotting,  will  give  origin  to  a  good  deal  of 
trouble. 

On  very  poor  soils  it  may  be  advisable  to  leave 
the  clippings  even  if  they  are  long.  Rest  as- 
sured that  they  will  never  be  detrimental 
to  the  lawn  unless  they  produce  an  unsightly 
effect.  The  cut  grass  will  soon  wither  in  the 
hot  sun,  and  a  few  hours  after  the  lawn  mower 
has  been  taken  over  the  surface  there  will 
be  very  little  trace  of  the  clippings. 

THE    IDEAL   MOWING   DAY 

Select  a  dull,  cloudy  day  for  mowing,  if 
possible.  The  grass  will  cut  more  easily,  and 
if  it  is  to  be  raked  off  after  clipping  it  is  more 
easy  to  handle,  and  the  shock  to  the  plant  from 
the  cut  surfaces  is  considerably  less  on  a  day 
when  the  sun  does  not  strike  with  all  its  force. 


52  LAWNS 

But  watering,  when  it  becomes  necessary  on 
account  of  excessive  drought,  should  be  at- 
tended to  independently  of  the  weather.  Of 
course  there  will  be  some  loss  from  surface 
evaporation,  if  watering  be  done  on  a  dry  hot 
soil  while  the  sun  is  still  brightly  shining, 
but  it  is  an  infinitesimal  fraction  and  not 
worth  serious  consideration,  and  the  bene- 
fit done  to  the  grass  will  far  offset  any  such 
loss. 

THE    FALLACY    OF    SPRINKLING 

Too  often,  because  it  is  easier  in  the  after 
years  of  the  lawn's  existence,  the  only  atten- 
tion it  gets,  other  than  occasional  mowing, 
is  watering;  and  this  watering  is  generally 
accomplished  in  the  most  haphazard  and 
laziest  form  imaginable.  Surface  sprinkling 
is  responsible  for  more  ultimate  damage  to 
otherwise  good  lawns  than  most  people,  per- 
haps, imagine.  It  is  a  very  common  practice  to 
connect  the  sprinkler  to  the  water  stand-pipe, 
place  it  in  the  middle  of  the  lawn,  and  let  the 
water  play  for  a  few  hours  of  an  evening.  It 
looks  so  pretty  with  the  jets  of  fine  spray  glist- 
ening in  the  evening  sun!  It  makes  a  great 


MOWING,    ROLLING,    AND    WATERING        53 

show  but  accomplishes  precious  little.  Far 
better  would  it  be  to  give  the  lawn  a  thorough 
soaking  with  water  straight  out  from  the  nozzle 
of  a  hose  once  a  week,  or  even  once  in  two 
or  three  weeks.  When  you  do  water,  water 
thoroughly. 

Light  surface  sprinklings  accomplish  this 
much  of  good :  They  do  check  transpiration 
from  the  leaves  and  evaporation  from  the 
surface  of  the  ground  for  a  short  time.  But 
the  trouble  is  that  they  do  not  give  enough 
water  to  soak  into  the  ground  and  really 
saturate  it  for  a  depth  of  some  inches.  The 
roots  of  the  plants  show  a  very  natural  ten- 
dency to  seek  the  best  supply  of  moisture, 
and  continuous  light  surface  sprinklings  have 
the  result  of  drawing  the  roots  to  the  surface 
whereas  they  should  properly  be  penetrating 
deep  into  the  lower  layers  of  the  soil.  This  of 
course  is  but  another  argument  for  the  very 
thorough  and  very  deep  preliminary  pre- 
paration of  the  site.  If  the  roots  can  find  all 
they  require  at  a  depth  of  eight  inches  to  a 
foot  below  the  surface  rest  assured  they  will 
travel  down  to  it.  A  lawn  thus  prepared  in 
the  first  place  can  withstand  the  trials  of  an 
ordinary  summer  in  the  eastern  United  States 


54  LAWNS 

without  being  watered  even  once,  provided 
always  that  the  site  is  not  unduly  drained,  nor 
on  the  slope  of  a  hill  exposed  to  peculiarly 
drying  conditions. 

Occasionally  there  will  be  exceptional  sea- 
sons which  must  be  met  by  exceptional 
actions.  Watering  may  then  be  a  prime  neces- 
sity, but  as  a  rule  if  the  beginnings  are 
properly  made,  watering  is  not  a  necessity  on 
the  lawn.  How  much  better  to  spend  an- 
other twelve  or  twenty-five  dollars  an  acre  in 
the  beginning,  and  avoid  the  mental  worry, 
the  continuous  labour,  and  the  unwelcome 
water  bills  of  later  years! 

Even  on  sandy  soils  watering  can  be  to  a 
great  extent  obviated,  and  it  is  folly  on  any 
sort  of  soil  to  rush  to  use  the  hose  in  the  early 
part  of  the  year.  On  small  lawns,  watering  is 
not  such  a  serious  problem;  and,  espec- 
ially where  the  foundation  has  been  on  the 
inert  soil  thrown  out  in  making  the  founda- 
tions for  the  house,  it  may  not  be  economi- 
cally practical  to  take  the  preliminary  steps 
which  would  avoid  its  necessity.  But  on  large 
areas  of  even  half  an  acre  the  question  of 
summer  maintenance  may  become  a  seriously 
expensive  problem. 


MOWING,    ROLLING,    AND    WATERING       55 
THE    RIGHT    WAY   TO    WATER 

When  watering  is  necessary  let  it  be  done  by 
laying  the  hose  on  the  ground  and  allowing 
the  water  to  flow  freely  from  it  in  one  spot 
for  about  an  hour.  Then  move  the  end  of 
the  hose  to  another  spot,  thus  watering  the 
lawn  in  sections,  the  edges  of  which  will  just 
overlap.  This  can  be  carried  on  all  day  long, 
and  at  night  too,  for  that  matter.  There  is 
no  reason  whatever  why  the  lawn  should  not 
be  watered  in  the  day  time,  sunshine  not- 
withstanding. Even  though  it  did  result  in 
burning  in  a  few  instances  through  the  drops 
of  water  focusing  the  rays  of  the  sun  on  to  the 
leaves,  the  damage  done  will  not  be  any 
more  noticeable  than  is  the  browning  of  the 
cut  edges  which  results  from  the  use  of  the 
lawn  mower. 


CHAPTER  VI 
How  TO  FEED  A  LAWN 

Making  a  good  start — Green  manure  and  humus — Artificial  fertilisers 
— Dressing  the  new  lawn — Keeping  old  lawns  up  to  pitch — Top 
dressings — Animal  manure  vs.  chemical  fertilisers — Where  weeds 
come  from — Stable  manure — Sheep  manure — Wood  ashes — Bone- 
meal — Nitrate  of  soda— Top  dressings— Lime  for  sour  soils — 
Tobacco  stems. 

NOBODY  expects  good  corn  from  unfed 
land.  It  is  a  matter  of  good  gardening  to 
feed  the  land  heavily  for  all  the  vegetable 
crops.  Yet  they  are  cleared  annually,  and 
the  ground  has  the  benefit  of  cultivation  while 
they  are  growing.  But  the  lawn  is  too  often 
neglected.  The  grass  is  a  permanent  crop 
and  really  needs  richer  feeding  than  many 
of  the  vegetable  crops.  The  ground  cannot 
be  cultivated  after  the  grass  is  growing,  but 
it  can,  and  must,  be  thoroughly  enriched  be- 
fore. Manure  ploughed  under  at  the  time  of 
the  general  preparation  is  the  foundation  for 
later  feeding  with  chemical  fertilisers. 

On  sandy  soils  the  dressing  of  manure  can 
be  much  heavier  than  on  heavy  soils,  and  will 
56 


In  the  winter  time,  after  the  ground  is  frozen  and  when  it  will   support 
traffic,  manure  may  be  hauled  on  to  the  lawn  and   spread  over  the  snow 


A  top  dressing  of   fine,  short  manure  may  be   scattered  over  the  grass  in 
earliest  spring,  before  the  trees  leaf.    Make  board  tracks  for  the  wheelbarrow 

TWO  METHODS  OF  FEEDING 


HOW    TO    FEED    A    LAWN  57 

be  more  economical  than  artificial  fertilisers, 
which  will  leach  out.  On  heavy  soils  a  chemi- 
cal fertiliser  will  answer.  The  objection  to 
the  use  of  stable  manure  is  the  risk  of  carry- 
ing in  weed  seeds,  which  can  only  be  avoided 
by  seeing  that  the  manure  is  well  rotted.  The 
proper  quality  is  not  easy  to  get,  and  rather 
than  run  any  risk  it  would  be  better  to  rely 
on  turning  under  a  green  crop  to  supply  the 
humus.  This  may  he  accomplished  by  sow- 
ing either  cowpeas  or  crimson  clover.  Ground 
bone  (3,000  pounds  to  the  acre)  may  then  be 
mixed  in  when  harrowing  and  raking,  and,  if 
there  is  a  tendency  to  acidity,  add  lime. 

Another  formula  that  has  given  satisfaction 
is: 

Lime  superphosphate 2  cwt. 

Guano I  cwt. 

Bone  meal I  cwt. 

Never  add  pure  chemical  fertilisers  to  the 
ground  just  before  seeding.  There  can  be 
but  one  result — the  loss  of  the  seed.  If  the 
plant  food  has  not  been  added  a  month  before 
sowing  time  wait  until  the  grass  is  well  up. 

DRESSING   THE    NEW    LAWN 

Very  well  rotted  manure  can  be  put  on  the 
new  lawn  as  a  fall  mulch,  as  much  to  keep 


58  LAWNS 

the  roots  of  the  new  lawn  in  proper  condition 
over  the  first  winter  as  for  any  food  value  it 
may  have.  In  parts  of  the  country  where 
tobacco  stems  are  easily  obtainable  from 
factories,  they  should  be  used  in  preference. 
They  are  cleaner,  they  cannot  carry  weed 
seeds,  and  the  insecticidal  properties  of  the 
tobacco  juices  are  of  some  importance. 

Sheep  manure,  using  about  one  ton  to  the 
acre,  will  be  found  thoroughly  satisfactory, 
and  will  not  cause  damage  by  bringing  in 
weeds.  For  my  own  part  I  object  to  dis- 
figuring the  lawn  with  this  sort  of  material, 
unless  it  be  needed  as  a  mulch.  If  for  feed- 
ing, I  would  rely  upon  chemical  fertilisers. 
The  manures  give  nitrogen,  which  is  more 
conveniently  applied  in  the  form  of  soda 
nitrate  at  the  rate  of  200  pounds  to  the  acre. 
It  must  be  scattered  just  in  advance  of  a  rain, 
or  applied  in  liquid  form,  using  one  pound 
to  forty  gallons  of  water. 

If  the  beginning  has  been  throughly  and 
conscientiously  done,  that  is,  if  the  soil  is 
properly  prepared  in  the  first  place  and  prop- 
erly enriched  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five 
hundred  pounds  of  well  rotted  stable  manure 
to  the  acre  or  an  equivalent  in  ground  bone 


HOW   TO    FEED    A    LAWN  59 

and  wood  ashes,  there  should  be  no  necessity 
for  adding  fertiliser  to  the  lawn  for,  perhaps, 
ten  years  after  its  establishment — unless  the 
land  is  extremely  porous.  Where  this  has  not 
been  done,  however,  feeding  will  have  to 
begin  possibly  the  very  first  year.  It  should 
never  be  forgotten  that  grass  is  feeding  on 
the  ground  continuously  and  that  it  is  being 
continuously  cut. 

After  the  lawn  is  made,  it  is  impossible,  of 
course,  to  treat  it  in  the  same  way  as  you  treat 
the  tilled  area  of  the  garden  or  the  borders. 
In  both  these  cases  when  fertility  is  to  be 
increased  it  can  be  accomplished  by  spread- 
ing over  the  surface  a  dressing  of  organic 
manure  and  spading  it  under.  In  the  very 
nature  of  things  such  a  course  is  out  of  the 
question  as  regards  the  lawn.  There  top 
dressings  of  easily  soluble  fertilisers  are 
necessary.  Even  the  surface  of  the  grass 
must  not  be  interfered  with,  it  must  not  be 
buried,  and  the  lawn  must  remain  in  service. 

MANURING    IN    WINTER 

If  stable  manure  is  to  be  used  at  all  it  should 
preferably  be  carried  on  to  the  lawn  some  time 


60  LAWNS 

during  the  winter.  An  excellent  plan  is  to 
wait  until  the  ground  is  frozen  and  partially 
covered  with  snow  when  a  horse  and  wagon 
may  be  drawn  across  its  surface  without 
any  permanent  injury  accruing.  At  other 
times  of  the  year  there  is  danger  of  furrowing 
the  lawn  by  the  wheels  of  the  wagon;  should 
this  happen  during  the  winter  it  is  of  no  great 
moment,  as  the  damage  can  be  easily  repaired 
in  the  early  spring  by  filling  in  with  top  soil 
and  reseeding  as  necessary. 

When  stable  manure  is  used  it  must  be 
what  is  spoken  of  as  "well  rotted."  Fresh 
manure  will  always  import  weed  seeds.  The 
damage  that  thus  may  be  done  to  the  lawn 
in  one  season  may  take  two  or  three  years  of 
constant  vigilance  to  reduce.  If  assured  that 
there  are  no  live  weed  seeds  contained  in  it 
stable  manure  is  the  best  sort  of  top  dressing 
that  can  be  put  on  to  the  lawn — aside  from 
its  ugliness!  If  spread  over  in  the  early  winter 
and  left  until  the  grass  begins  to  grow  vig- 
orously in  the  spring  it  will  have  served  a  dual 
purpose.  Not  only  has  the  lawn  received 
the  benefit  of  its  fertilising  qualities,  but  the 
service  of  the  mulch  in  modifying  the  effects 
of  the  alternate  freezing  and  thawing  will 


HOW    TO    FEED    A    LAWN  6 1 

have  been  extremely  beneficial.  In  the  early 
spring  rake  the  coarse  material  from  the  lawn 
and  then  go  over  the  surface  with  a  heavy 
roller. 


WEEDS    AND    ORGANIC    MANURES 

The  objection  to  ordinary  stable  manure 
being  used  as  a  top  dressing  on  the  lawn  does 
not  apply  to  the  other  animal  manures  inas- 
much as  they  do  not  contain  weed  seeds.  Of 
these  possible  substitutes,  however,  the  only 
one  that  can  be  recommended  for  general  use 
is  sheep  manure.  This  is  a  highly  concen- 
trated fertiliser,  and  contains  a  very  small 
amount  of  water.  It  is  weight  for  weight 
the  richest  manure  produced  by  any  of  the 
common  farm  animals.  It  decomposes 
rapidly  and  loses  a  large  proportion  of  its 
ammonia  (nitrogen).  This  would  be  ob- 
viated by  composting  with  earth  or  land 
plaster  in  the  proportion  of  two  parts  manure 
to  one  of  the  earth  or  plaster. 

As  offered  commercially  dry  sheep  manure 
may  be  used  as  a  dressing  for  the  lawn  at  the 
rate  of  one  half  ton,  to  one  ton,  per  acre.  It 
will  possibly  be  more  efficient  when  used  in 


62  LAWNS 

spring,  as  in  that  way  the  full  benefit  of  the 
nitrogen  would  be  retained,  but  it  may  be 
also  used  as  a  fall  dressing.  The  disadvan- 
tage of  using  animal  manures  for  top  dressing 
in  the  spring  is  that  the  bright  green  appear- 
ance of  the  lawn  which  is  one  of  the  most 
pleasing  effects  of  the  spring  landscape  is 
seriously  marred.  It  is  sometimes  stated 
that  clover  seeds  are  imported  with  sheep 
manure.  If  this  be  so  it  is  not  a  very  serious 
objection.  On  the  other  hand  it  should  be 
remembered  that  the  ordinary  commercial 
sheep  manure  is  what  is  known  as  "kiln- 
dried  and  pulverised,"  in  which  case  of  course, 
even  if  there  were  live  clover  seeds  in  the 
natural  product,  they  would  be  destroyed  in 
the  preparation  and  handling. 

SPRING    TOP    DRESSINGS 

As  a  spring  top  dressing  finely  ground  bone 
meal  and  sifted  wood  ashes,  in  equal  parts 
by  weight,  should  be  distributed  over  the 
surface  of  the  lawn  at  the  rate  of  one  ton  to 
the  acre.  This  would  mean  a  distribution 
over  the  surface  about  as  thick  as  would  give 
an  even  covering,  leaving  the  lawn  with  a 


HOW    TO    FEED    A    LAWN  63 

slightly  grayish  colour.  This  top  dressing 
may  safely  be  used  in  heavier  doses  than  the 
uninitiated  would  imagine.  It  is  better  to 
select  for  the  broadcasting  a  day  when  rain 
is  anticipated  so  that  the  fertiliser  may  be 
washed  down  to  the  roots  of  the  grass  at 
once. 

Nitrate  of  soda  as  a  top  dressing  is  used 
broadcast  up  to  five  hundred  pounds  per 
acre.  It  would  be  better  to  apply  this 
quantity  in  two  or  even  three  separate  dress- 
ings rather  than  all  at  once.  Nitrate  of  soda 
is  so  easily  soluble  in  water  that  even  moder- 
ate rains  on  a  well  drained  and  especially  on 
a  leechy  soil  will  wash  away  the  greater  part 
of  a  heavy  dressing,  which  is  thus  utterly  lost. 
If  this  is  scattered  over  the  surface  on  a  dry 
day,  and  is  not  quickly  followed  by  rain,  the 
grass  will  inevitably  be  burned  because  the 
salt  will  extract  water  from  the  foliage  of  the 
grasses.  To  avoid  this,  some  people  prefer  to 
apply  nitrate  of  soda  in  a  solution,  and  it  may 
be  prepared  at  the  rate  of  one  pound  in  forty 
gallons  of  water.  The  effect  of  nitrate  of 
soda  is  very  rapid.  The  grass  will  be  seen  to 
respond  immediately  to  the  application,  it 
will  make  a  vigorous  growth  and  assume  a 


64  LAWNS 

richer,  deeper  green  colour,  the  result  being 
especially  marked  on  light  soils. 

This  top  dressing  may  be  used  at  any  time 
during  the  season  when  it  is  desirable  to  force 
a  quick  growth  in  spots  that  have  become 
bare  through  usage,  and  in  certain  cases  it  is 
better  to  rely  upon  it  than  to  fall  back  on 
reseeding,  as  for  instance  when  the  bareness 
is  due  to  heavy  traffic.  Reseeding  in  such 
a  case  would  not  be  effectual,  because  the 
young  plants  would  be  trampled  to  death  as 
soon  as  they  are  germinated.  On  the  other 
hand,  nitrate  of  soda  may  be  regarded  as  a 
forcing  or  stimulating  food  and  should  always 
be  supplemented  with  something  of  a  more 
lasting  character  and  which  will  assist  the 
plants  in  building  up  a  hardy  and  vigorous 
structure. 

LONG    LASTING    FERTILISERS 

Of  the  more  permanent  fertilisers  bone 
meal  and  hard  wood  ashes  are  the  best.  The 
former,  for  top  dressing,  must  be  used  in 
what  is  known  as  fine  meal.  The  coarse 
ground  bone  takes  too  long  to  dissolve  and 
comes  in  too  large  particles  for  convenient 


HOW    TO    FEED    A    LAWN  65 

use.  Raw  crushed  bone  is  to  be  used  only 
in  the  original  preparation  of  the  ground. 
Bone  meal  acts  slowly  but  a  dressing  once  a 
year  at  the  rate  of  five  hundred  pounds  to  the 
acre  will  give  marvellous  returns.  It  can  be 
used  at  any  time,  and  on  very  light,  sandy 
soils  it  is  common  practice  to  apply  a  top 
dressing  in  the  late  summertime. 

Phosphates  are  particularly  beneficial  in 
giving  vigour  to  grass  plants.  They  may  be 
applied  better  by  means  of  bone  meal  than 
by  any  of  the  chemical  fertilisers.  Bone 
meal  also  contains  a  fair  proportion  of  slowly 
available  nitrogen,  and  where  there  is  no  need 
for  special  sudden  stimulation  it  may  be  used 
to  the  exclusion  of  nitrate  of  soda  or  animal 
manures. 

WOOD     ASHES     AND     LIME 

Hardwood  ashes,  broadcasted  at  the  rate 
of  one  ton  to  the  acre,  are  peculiarly  available 
on  blue  grass  lawns  inasmuch  as  they  carry 
with  them  a  quantity  of  lime  which  will 
neutralise  any  tendency  to  acidity  in  the  soil, 
thus  making  it  a  more  congenial  medium  for 
the  Kentucky  blue  grass. 


66  LAWNS 

Lime  itself  is  indicated  as  a  winter  dressing 
and  can  be  used  at  the  rate  of  forty  bushels  to 
the  acre  or  roughly  speaking,  one  bushel  per 
thousand  square  feet  or  two  handfuls  to  the 
square  yard.  As  Kentucky  blue  grass  forms 
the  basis  of  the  standard  lawn  mixtures,  and 
is  the  one  grass  which  it  is  hoped  will  ulti- 
mately occupy  the  entire  area  to  the  exclusion 
of  all  others  which  were  there  in  the  begin- 
ning, an  annual  dressing  of  lime  may  safely 
be  given.  This  is  preferably  spread  over  the 
ground  some  time  in  the  winter  after  it  has 
been  frozen.  Lime  to  be  used  on  the  lawn 
should  be  air  slaked. 

A  practical  method  of  procuring  a  supply  for 
the  suburban  gardener  is  to  purchase  quick 
lime  by  the  barrel  in  the  early  spring  and  have 
it  stored  in  barrels  or  boxes  in  the  cellar  until 
it  is  to  be  used.  It  will  in  this  way  serve  two 
purposes.  In  the  process  of  air  slaking,  which 
goes  on  throughout  the  summer,  it  will  absorb 
moisture  from  the  air  and  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent will  aid  in  drying  the  cellar.  By  fall  it 
will  be  thoroughly  slaked  and  ready  for  use. 
This  annual  dressing  will  largely  help  in  erad- 
icating moss  and  sorrel  or  sour  grass,  which 
invariably  take  possession  of  sour  soils. 


HOW   TO    FEED    A    LAWN  67 

TOBACCO    STEMS 

Tobacco  leaf  stems  and  tobacco  stalks  are 
used  as  a  mulch  for  winter  in  districts  where 
they  are  readily  available.  Spread  over  the 
lawn  they  serve  to  protect  it  from  the  action 
of  frost  and  have  some  slight  influence  in 
controlling  insects.  They  cannot  be  said  to 
act  greatly  as  a  fertiliser  although  there  is 
a  common  belief  to  that  effect.  If  spread 
over  in  the  fall  they  will  usually  have  rotted 
by  spring,  and  there  is  little  coarse  material  to 
be  gathered  up. 


CHAPTER  VII 

SOLVING  THE  WEED  PROBLEM: 
INSECTS,  ETC. 

No  room  for  weeds  on  a  well  kept  lawn — Guarding  against  infection — 
The  commonest  pests — Digging  out  dandelions  and  plantains — 
Poisoning  the  root — Sour  grass  and  moss — Lime  the  remedy — The 
pestiferous  crab-grass — The  friendly  frost — Bermuda  grass  in  the 
North— Fall  grasses— Fall  weeding  best— Poultry  manure  vs.  weeds 
— Ants— The  white  grub — Earthworms— Moles— Fairy  rings  and 
other  fungi. 

UNLESS  a  lawn  is  maintained  in  its  highest 
efficiency,  and  the  growth  of  the  grass  con- 
tinuously stimulated,  weeds  will  creep  in. 
The  surest  method  of  keeping  out  the  unde- 
sirable growths  among  the  grass  is  by  keep- 
ing the  good  growth  thoroughly  occupying 
the  ground.  As  sure  as  the  desirable  lawn 
grasses  are  allowed  to  die  out,  undesirable, 
rank  growing  weeds  will  immediately  occupy 
the  ground — nature  abhors  a  blank  spot. 

Where  such  weeds  have  secured  a  foothold, 
they  should  be  dug  out  by  one  of  the  conven- 
ient hand  tools,  going  over  the  ground  most 
thoroughly  in  the  spring  time  and  persisting 

68 


PLATE  XVIII 


What  happens  if  the  dandelions  are  not  cut  out !     The  bright  yellow  flowers 
are  very  pretty,  but  they  will  develop  seeds 


The  result  of  neglect.     Note  how  the  plantains  have  taken  possession  of  the 
portion  that  was  not  reseeded.     Oust  weeds  by  growing  grass  ! 

LESSONS  WITH  WEEDS 


THE  WEED  PROBLEM:  INSECTS,  ETC.      69 

in  the  work  as  long  as  the  plants  show  any 
tendency  to  active  growth,  and  on  no  account 
must  they  be  allowed  to  run  to  seed.  So  far 
as  possible  neighbouring  uncultivated  patches 
which  have  become  a  prey  to  common  weeds 
should  be  roughly  mowed  over  with  the  scythe 
two  or  three  times  during  the  year,  or  they 
may  be  burnt  over.  In  fact  almost  any 
means  is  justifiable  in  order  to  reduce  the 
chances  of  infection  by  weed  seeds.  The 
most  common  pests  of  the  lawn  are  the  dan- 
delion, the  plantains,  dock,  crab-grass, 
Bermuda  grass  (in  northern  lawns)  wild  carrot, 
chickweed,  sorrel,  and  moss. 

DIG   OUT   THESE    WEEDS 

The  dandelions,  plantains,  and  dock  must 
be  cut  out,  root  and  all.  It  is  no  good  to 
merely  crop  off  the  rosette  of  leaves  without 
digging  in  to  the  soil  and  taking  out  as  much 
of  the  root  as  possible.  Indeed,  very  often 
the  mere  chopping  off  of  the  rosette  will 
result  in  an  increase  of  the  number  of  crowns 
later  in  the  season.  In  the  early  spring  time, 
in  many  parts  of  the  country,  it  is  no  un- 
common thing  to  see  itinerant  Italians  travel- 


70  LAWNS 

ling  from  garden  to  garden  digging  up  the 
dandelions  which  they  sell  in  the  cities  for 
salad  purposes.  These  scavengers  should 
be  encouraged.  They  save  annually  thous- 
sands  of  lawns  from  the  presence  of  this  weed. 
To  a  certain  extent,  it  must  be  confessed  that 
dandelions  and  daisies  are  pretty  adjuncts 
to  the  grass  plot.  The  danger  is,  however, 
that  they  are  likely  to  overwhelm  the  grass; 
and,  moreover,  though  the  golden  flowers  of 
the  dandelion  are  pretty  enough  in  all  truth, 
yet  the  globular  white  seed  balls  are  far  from 
decorative.  When  digging  the  roots  out  of 
the  lawn,  the  worker  may  at  the  same  time 
repair  the  damage  by  treading  the  surface 
till  the  hole  is  closed.  Where  bad  patches 
have  occurred,  resulting  in  ugly  large  sized 
holes,  it  will  be  better,  however,  to  scatter 
over  the  surface  a  little  good  quality  garden 
loam  or  soil  from  the  compost  heap,  and 
finish  off  by  scattering  a  pinch  or  two  of  lawn 
seed  mixture,  beating  the  surface  well  with 
the  back  of  the  spade. 

Plantains  are  more  easily  dug  out  than 
dandelions.  They  cannot  be  made  use  of 
in  any  way,  but  they  will  seed  very  freely  and 
soon  become  a  pest  on  the  untended  lawn. 


THE  WEED  PROBLEM:  INSECTS,  ETC.      71 

They  show  a  great  tendency  to  occupy  soil 
of  a  somewhat  heavy  nature,  especially  one 
that  is  insufficiently  drained.  The  work  of 
removal  should  be  accomplished  in  the  early 
spring  before  the  plants  have  come  into 
flower.  There  are  two  species  of  plantain 
which  are  sufficiently  well  known,  the  one 
having  narrow  leaves  six  to  seven  inches  long 
and  half  an  inch  wide,  commonly  called  rib 
grass;  the  other  having  shorter,  much  wider 
leaves,  strongly  marked  with  the  parallel 
veins  or  ribs.  The  plantains  make  a  strong 
root,  but  do  not  penetrate  so  deeply  as  the 
dandelion.  They  throw  out  more  lateral 
rootlets  which  are  strong  and  wiry,  and  gen- 
erally it  is  necessary  to  make  a  pretty  wide  cut 
in  order  to  remove  the  plant  properly. 

If  it  is  not  convenient  to  cut  out  the  entire 
root  they  may  be  killed,  after  the  crown  has 
been  removed,  by  poison.  A  crystal  of  sul- 
phate of  iron,  (green  vitriol)  placed  on  the 
top  of  the  cut  surface  will  dissolve  and  kill 
the  root  which  is  left  behind.  Such  treat- 
ment, however,  is  not  generally  recom- 
mended, as  there  is  danger  of  strong  corrosive 
chemicals  doing  damage  to  the  grass  roots 
by  spreading  in  solution  in  the  soil  and  neces- 


72  LAWNS 

skating  very  extensive  repairs  by  turfing  or 
reseeding.  A  drop  or  two  of  gasoline  is  said 
to  be  effective. 


THE    RESULT   OF    SOUR   SOIL 

Sour  grass  (or  sorrel)  and  moss  are  pests  on 
many  lawns  and  are  sure  indicators  of  un- 
satisfactory ground  conditions.  The  lawn 
which  has  become  infested  with  these  weeds 
is  in  all  probability  sour  and  badly  drained. 
The  easiest  immediate  remedy  is  by  winter 
dressings  of  air  slacked  lime  at  the  rate  of 
one  bushel  to  a  thousand  square  feet  of  lawn. 
Better,  however,  it  would  be  to  underdrain 
by  sinking  lines  of  tile.  Land  can  be  over- 
drained,  an  extreme  which  must  be  avoided, 
and  for  which  it  is  not  possible  to  lay  down  any 
definite  rules.  It  is  a  matter  of  judgment,  and, 
generally,  some  good  idea  of  the  number  of 
drain  ditches  that  should  be  put  in  can  be 
ascertained  from  some  local  farmer  or  gar- 
dener who  has  had  experience  with  the  soil 
of  the  locality.  Bottom  lands  will  always 
need  more  drainage  than  up-lands.  The 
advantage  of  attacking  these  weeds  by  a 
surface  dressing  of  lime  is  especially  marked 


THE  WEED  PROBLEM:  INSECTS,  ETC.       73 

on  a  blue  grass  lawn  as  the  grass  will  make  a 
much  more  vigorous  growth  in  the  presence 
of  the  lime.  It  is  possible,  indeed,  to  maintain 
the  lawn  in  very  good  average  condition  by 
annual  dressings  of  lime  in  the  quantity  here 
advised. 

THE    WORST   WEED    OF    ALL 

Crab  grass  (Syntherisma  or  Panicum 
sangu'male]  is  the  worst  weed  enemy  of  the 
lawn.  It  creeps  over  the  surface  in  such  a 
way  that  it  is  untouched  by  the  lawn  mower, 
yet  a  strenuous  fight  must  be  waged  against 
it  as  soon  as  its  presence  is  recognised.  It  is  an 
annual  and  will  reseed  itself  year  after  year 
unless  it  is  attacked  and  actually  pulled  out. 
The  seeds  germinate  in  June  and  early  Au- 
gust and  its  unwelcome  presence  in  the  full 
summer  season  mars  what  may  be  otherwise 
a  good  lawn,  by  its  broad  pale  green  leaves, 
which  give  a  very  patchy  and  unhappy  appear- 
ance to  the  general  surface  of  the  grass.  As 
soon  as  the  cold  weather  approaches  the 
creeping  stems  of  the  crab  grass  change  to  a 
bronzy  red  colour,  which  becomes  more  and 
more  intense  as  the  cold  increases,  making 
the  lawn  in  the  latter  part  of  the  season  look 


74  LAWNS 

quite  "rusty";  which  no  amount  of  water- 
ing will  revive  into  bright  green.  The  first 
touch  of  frost  spells  death  to  the  crab 
grass,  but  there  is  little  satisfaction  to  be  de- 
rived from  that  fact.  Where  it  is  killed  the 
lawn  is  left  with  unsightly  brown  patches 
which  are  open  to  the  inroads  of  weeds  and 
there  is  always  the  certainty  that  the  plant 
has  infected  the  lawn  with  its  own  seeds  for 
another  year's  crop. 

There  is  only  one  practical  method  of 
attack,  and  that  is  both  costly  and  burden- 
some. As  soon  as  the  grass  begins  to  spread, 
take  a  sharp-toothed  garden  rake  and  yank 
up  the  creeping  stems  of  the  crab  grass,  pulling 
them  clear  from  the  surface  of  the  soil  and 
leaving  them  spread  on  the  top  of  the  regular 
lawn  surface.  If  the  lawn  mower  with  knives 
set  very  low  be  now  run  over  the  ground  the 
flower  heads  will  be  cut  off,  which  will  pre- 
vent the  seeding.  If  this  is  not  done  during 
June  and  July  the  low  creeping  stems  will 
by  the  end  of  August  have  successfully 
crowded  out  and  killed  many  of  the  more 
desirable  grasses.  It  is  no  use  to  merely  run 
the  mower  over  the  lawn  without  previously 
pulling  up  the  creeping  stems  in  the  way  de- 


THE  WEED  PROBLEM:  INSECTS,  ETC.       75 

scribed,  for  the  machine  will  then  simply  cut  the 
leaves,  actually  stimulating  the  stalks  below  to 
further  growth  and  tighter  rooting  into  the 
ground.  Rollingwith  a  three-thousand-pound 
machine  has  killed  crab  grass  in  Philadelphia. 

OTHER   WEED    GRASSES 

Bermuda  grass  (Capriola,  or  Cynodon,Dac- 
tylori)  is  objectionable  in  Northern  lawns  merely 
because  it  becomes  discoloured  on  the  first 
touch  of  frost,  leaving  ugly  brown  patches. 
Of  itself  it  is  not  otherwise  undesirable.  In 
a  blue  grass  lawn  this  patchiness  toward 
the  end  of  the  season  is  very  undesirable,  and 
the  Bermuda  grass  may  therefore  be  classed 
as  a  weed  north  of  Washington.  South  of 
that  city  and  especially  upon  the  sandy  soils 
of  the  Atlantic  coast  Bermuda  grass  is  the 
main  dependence  for  lawns. 

As  the  fall  approaches,  orchard  grass 
(Dactylis  glomerata]  is  likely  to  make  its 
appearance  in  many  lawns,  so  is  timothy 
(Phleum  pratense).  They  may  even  come  in 
accidentally  with  low  grade  lawn  mixtures. 
Wherever  they  appear  they  should  be  ruth- 
lessly dug  up;  in  fact  no  strong  growing 
bunch  or  tuft  grass  should  be  tolerated  for 


76  LAWNS 

an  instant.  They  should  immediately  be 
dug  up,  lawn  grass  seeds  scattered  on  the  bare 
spot,  and  the  soil  firmed  down  with  the  back 
of  the  spade. 

WHEN   TO    DIG   WEEDS 

It  is  better  to  dig  out  these  rank  growing 
weeds  in  the  fall,  rather  than  in  the  spring, 
as  their  removal  in  the  early  part  of  the  year 
opens  up  a  quickly-seized  chance  for  crab 
grass  to  gain  a  foothold,  especially  during 
the  hot  weather  which  may  be  expected  from 
the  middle  of  May  onward.  Very  often  the 
regular  grasses  of  the  lawn  are  burned  out 
about  this  time,  and  it  is  well  not  to  give  too 
much  leeway  for  the  crab  grass  which  ger- 
minates in  June.  The  lawn  should  be  in 
better  condition  by  the  end  of  October  than 
it  was  in  April. 

From  time  to  time,  varying  in  different 
parts  of  the  country  and  on  different  soils, 
hosts  of  other  plants  will  gain  entry  to  the 
lawn  as  weeds,  but  the  foregoing  are  the  more 
common  pests  which  occur  generally.  These 
other  weeds  have  more  or  less  shallow  rooting 
and  may  generally  be  eradicated  by  encour- 
aging a  growth  of  the  regular  lawn  grasses. 


THE  WEED  PROBLEM:  INSECTS,  ETC.       77 

In  other  words  the  best  way  to  keep  out  weeds 
is  to  keep  in  grass.  The  well  maintained  lawn 
which  is  properly  cared  for  in  the  early  spring 
and  which  receives  an  annual  top  dressing 
of  some  fertiliser  as  already  described  will 
not,  under  ordinary  conditions  and  in  ordin- 
ary seasons,  be  seriously  menaced  by  weeds. 
When  a  wet,  warm  summer  occurs  many  oth- 
er plants  may  become  very  bothersome  weeds. 
Chickweed  may  be  taken  as  a  sample.  It 
will  then  overrun  the  grass,  and  must  be 
raked  out. 

Clover  is  not  generally  regarded  as  un- 
desirable on  the  lawn  (indeed  it  is  usually 
seeded  over  in  order  to  get  a  quick  green 
effect),  and  many  people  advocate  its  presence 
because  its  low  growing  foliage  leaves  the 
newly  cut  lawn  with  a  fresh  green  colour 
which  would  not  be  the  case  if  the  bare  stems 
of  the  grasses  alone  were  seen.  It  grows  below 
the  level  of  the  lawn  mower  as  generally  set, 
and  does  not  interfere  with  the  growth  of  the 
permanent  grasses. 

A   USE    FOR   POULTRY 

The  suburban  gardener  who  keeps  poultry 
has  at  hand  a  very  simple  method  of  eradi- 


78  LAWNS 

eating  weeds  from  his  lawn.  The  manure 
from  the  poultry  house  can  be  saved  and  com- 
posted and  spread  over  the  lawn  in  the  fall. 
This  can  be  put  on  as  thickly  as  convenient 
and  will  have  a  very  stimulating  effect  upon 
the  growth  of  the  grass  in  the  spring;  so 
strong  will  the  growth  be  that  the  weeds  will 
be  crowded  out  of  existence.  Hen  manure  to 
be  used  in  this  way  should  be  gathered  daily 
during  the  season,  mixed  with  an  equal 
quantity  of  earth  or  plaster,  and  stored  in  a 
dry  place  until  wanted  for  use.  A  dressing 
of  a  bushel  to  a  thousand  square  feet  of  sur- 
face will  not  be  excessive. 

INSECTS    THAT    BOTHER   MOST 

Perhaps  the  most  troublesome  of  the  minor 
insects  are  the  red  and  black  ants.  These 
are  not  usually  serious  pests  on  other  than 
light  dry  sandy  soils.  With  a  properly  pre- 
pared site,  in  which  a  due  proportion  of  clay 
has  been  incorporated,  ants  will  very  rarely 
occur.  The  chief  injury  they  render  is  by 
the  manner  in  which  they  loosen  up  the  soil 
around  the  roots  of  the  grasses.  They  do 
not  directly  attack  the  plants  themselves;  but, 


THE  WEED  PROBLEM:  INSECTS,  ETC.      79 

by  loosening  the  ground  in  making  their 
tunnels  and  galleries,  the  effect  is  that  the 
roots  become  dried  out  and  the  tops  nat- 
urally suffer. 

The  most  effectual  means  of  attack  is  to  poi- 
son the  ants  by  means  of  bisulphide  of  carbon. 
The  work  can  be  quickly  accomplished  and 
though  not  a  particularly  pleasant  operation, 
it  is  not  so  objectionable  that  there  is  any 
excuse  for  avoiding  it.  The  bisulphide  of 
carbon  is  a  heavy,  colourless,  volatile  liquid 
which  easily  sinks  into  the  ground,  and  the 
fumes,  which  are  heavier  than  the  air,  quickly 
penetrate  downward  into  the  most  remote 
corners  of  the  ants'  runs.  One  or  two  table- 
spoonfuls  of  the  liquid  may  be  carefully 
poured  into  the  opening  of  the  nest  and  a 
damp  cloth  or  a  handful  of  soil  should  be 
immediately  put  over  it  and  packed  down 
tightly.  Nothing  else  is  necessary.  If  one 
application  does  not  entirely  rid  the  lawn  of 
these  little  pests,  it  is  a  simple  matter  to 
repeat  the  attack. 

One  word  of  caution  is  well  in  reference  to 
the  handling  of  this  poison.  It  is  highly  in- 
flammable, and  the  vapour  is  dangerously 
explosive.  Be  very  careful,  therefore,  not  to 


80  LAWNS 

use  bisulphide  of  carbon  in  the  presence  of  a 
naked  light,  or  in  the  neighbourhood  of  a  fire. 

It  is  sometimes  recommended  that,  after 
pouring  in  the  liquid  and  allowing  it  to  vapour- 
ise  a  short  time,  the  covering  should  be  lifted 
and  a  match  applied  to  explode  the  nests. 
While  this  may  be  done,  and  will  be  effective 
in  killing  the  ants,  yet  it  is  entirely  unnec- 
essary and  may  even  be  detrimental  to  the 
general  condition  of  the  lawn  otherwise,  in- 
asmuch as  the  shock  of  the  explosion  will 
aggravate  the  loosening  of  the  soil  around  the 
roots.  After  the  treatment  with  the  bisul- 
phide of  carbon,  say  in  the  course  of  two  or 
three  hours,  the  lawn  should  be  copiously 
watered  after  rolling  with  a  heavy  roller. 

A  similar  treatment  may  be  applied  for 
any  other  insects  that  are  found  sneaking  in 
the  lawn. 

The  white  grub  of  the  June  beetle  will 
occasionally  gain  a  foothold  in  untended 
lawns,  especially  those  that  are  insufficiently 
mown.  This  pest  burrows  into  the  ground 
and  feeds  on  the  roots  of  the  grasses,  causing 
very  serious  damage  and  often  resulting  in  the 
entire  killing  out  of  the  plants.  When  patches 
of  brown  occur  on  a  lawn  in  summer  the  pres- 


THE  WEED  PROBLEM:  INSECTS,  ETC.      81 

ence  of  the  white  grub  may  be  suspected. 
These  grubs  live  in  the  ground  three  years  be- 
fore emerging  into  the  perfect  insects.  They 
may  be  brought  under  control  by  ploughing  in 
fall  and  allowing  chickens  to  forage  on  the  lawn, 
as  they  are  particularly  fond  of  these  fat  grubs. 
On  lawns  which  cannot  be  ploughed  up,  spray- 
ings with  kerosene  emulsion  has  been  found 
a  good  remedy.  The  use  of  a  very  heavy  roller 
has  often  been  satisfactory  in  crushing  the 
grubs  in  light  soils. 

EARTH    WORMS  AND   THEIR   CASTS 

Earth  worms  are  an  indication  of  an  im- 
properly drained  top  soil,  or  of  a  soil  that  is 
cold  or  heavy.  They  rarely  occur  in  trouble- 
some quantity  on  good  mellow  soils  which 
are  warm  and  abundantly  underdrained.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  their  presence  would  be  taken 
as  a  very  index  to  the  fact  that  the  soil  lacks 
humus.  They  are  nature's  most  efficient 
agents  in  transforming  a  cold  tight  soil  which 
lacks  humus,  and  is  therefore  somewhat 
unresponsive  in  cultivation,  into  a  soil  that 
is  warmer  and  generally  better  adapted  for 
plant  growing.  They  are  kept  out  of  tennis 


82  LAWNS 

courts  by  providing  ample  drainage  some 
considerable  distance  below  the  surface — by 
means  of  a  layer  of  coal  ashes  for  instance. 
They  will  not  work  up  through  such  a 
material.  If  they  are  especially  troublesome 
— which  will  be  manifested  by  the  number  of 
casts  thrown  up  all  over  the  surface  of  the 
lawn — the  best  immediate  remedy  is  to  water 
with  lime-water,  made  by  dissolving  lime 
and  allowing  the  liquid  to  settle  and  clear. 
The  upper  portion  may  then  be  used  through 
an  ordinary  watering  can.  If  a  good  appli- 
cation of  lime  water  is  made  in  the  evening 
when  the  work  of  the  worms  is  especially 
troublesome,  they  will  be  drawn  to  the  sur- 
face, and  can  be  brushed  or  raked  up  early 
the  next  morning.  Worm  casts  must  be 
brushed  off  the  lawn  before  rolling,  otherwise 
the  grass  will  be  killed  by  the  cakes  of  com- 
pact earth.  Other  suggestions  for  dealing 
with  worm  casts  will  be  found  in  Chapter  XIII. 

THE    MOLE 

The  most  bothersome  animal  pest  is  the 
mole.  Tunnelling  under  the  ground,  working 
chiefly  by  night,  a  few  of  these  animals,  will 


THE  WEED  PROBLEM:  INSECTS,  ETC.      83 

in  a  very  short  time  completely  mar  an  other- 
wise handsome  sward.  Not  only  do  they 
make  tunnels,  the  tops  of  which  are  likely  to 
fall  in  with  a  very  slight  pressure,  but  in  the 
course  of  their  travellings  they  will,  at  frequent 
intervals,  throw  up  hills  of  soil,  giving  the 
surface  of  the  lawn  an  irregular,  hummocky 
contour. 

Moles  are  not  seriously  troublesome  on 
well  rolled  lawns.  They  will  always  choose 
a  line  of  least  resistance,  and  a  lawn  which 
is  kept  well  rolled  presents  an  entirely  too 
compact  mass  for  Mr.  Mole's  comfort  in 
travel.  If  moles  are  running  through  a 
lawn  they  should  be  fought  by  means  of  mole 
traps,  which  are  plunged  into  the  runs  and 
usually  catch  the  animals  in  the  night  time. 
Wherever  their  presence  is  detected  the 
course  of  the  tunnel  should  be  followed  out, 
and  the  earth  well  tramped  down.  Poisoned 
bait  has  sometimes  been  used  with  more  or 
less  reported  success  but  from  the  fact  that 
the  mole  is  essentially  a  carnivorous  animal, 
it  is  not  exactly  plain  why  it  should  be  easily 
trapped  by  poisoned  grain  seeds.  The  animal 
does  certainly  gnaw  the  roots  of  plants,  but 
it  does  this  chiefly  because  they  happen  to 


84  LAWNS 

come  in  his  line  of  travel,  and  though  he  may 
at  times,  and  under  special  conditions,  take 
to  a  vegetarian  menu,  it  is  not  purely  the 
nature  of  the  beast. 


F\IRY   RINGS    AND    OTHER   FUNGI 

Very  common  in  lawns  made  in  a  wood- 
land country  is  the  peculiar  growth  of  the 
fairy  ring  fungus.  By  the  time  it  attracts 
attention  the  area  of  growth  of  the  fungus 
has  usually  assumed  the  form  of  a  hollow 
circle,  the  band  in  which  the  fungus  is  de- 
veloped varying  in  width  from  six  to  twelve 
inches.  This  method  of  growth  never  fails 
to  excite  interest  and  has  been  indeed  the 
basis  of  much  legendary  lore  of  the  Old  World. 
Starting  from  a  central  spot  the  mycelium 
of  this  fungus  spreads  evenly  outward  in  all 
directions,  seemingly  exhausting  the  qualities 
of  the  soil  for  itself  as  it  travels,  and  conse- 
quently, as  it  dies  in  the  centre  and  is  always 
growing  on  the  outer  margin,  the  mature  spore- 
bearing  fruits  take  the  appearance  of  the 
characteristic,  ever  widening  circles.  The 
fairy  ring  fungus  is  not  actually  injurious  to 
the  grass;  indeed  the  growth  of  the  grass  in 


THE  WEED  PROBLEM:  INSECTS,  ETC.     85 

the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  fungus 
is  usually  very  markedly  vigorous.  Dressings 
of  lime  will  assist  in  controlling  the  spread  of 
the  fungus,  which  certainly  is  disfiguring. 

Rarely  there  occurs  over  the  lawn  a  pe- 
culiar slime  fungus  which  seems  to  spread 
over  extensive  areas  of  grass  in  a  single  night. 
Actually  it  is  not  parasitical  on  the  grass,  and 
only  appears  during  specially  wet  seasons. 
Its  presence  is  first  recognised  by  an  irreg- 
ular patch  on  the  lawn,  maybe  measuring 
several  feet  in  each  direction,  in  which  every 
blade  of  grass,  every  grass  stem,  everything 
in  fact  within  its  area,  becomes  covered  with 
small  slaty-gray  globules  about  the  size  of  a 
pin's  head,  which  on  being  ruptured  emit  a 
soot  like  powder.  The  appearance  of  this 
slime  mold  usually  disconcerts  the  gardener, 
but  he  may  rest  at  ease.  It  will  disappear 
almost  as  quickly  as  it  came,  and  even  though 
it  spreads  over  the  greater  portion  of  the  lawn 
it  does  no  actual  damage  to  the  grass.  The 
slime  mold  fungi  spread  over  anything  that 
happens  to  come  in  their  way,  and  in  travel- 
ling over  the  surface  of  the  ground  swarm 
upon  the  grass  leaves  by  accident.  It  might 
be  well,  as  a  precautionary  measure,  to  give 


86  LAWNS 

a  slight  spraying  with  Bordeaux  mixture, 
using  it  at  about  one  half  the  standard 
strength. 

Various  other  fungi  may  from  time  to  time 
be  found  growing  among  the  grass,  yet  they 
are  not  to  be  considered  as  pests  of  the  lawn. 
Wherever  they  occur  they  are  generally  the 
fruits  of  neglect  or  improper  lawn  conditions. 
Occasionally,  however,  the  field  mushroom 
will  spring  up  in  a  very  well  kept  lawn  which 
has  been  heavily  dressed  with  stable  manure 
gaining  its  foothold  as  a  consequence  of  that 
very  treatment.  Very  few  people  object 
to  gathering  a  few  luscious  mushrooms  from 
their  own  lawn,  and  would  possibly  resent  the 
idea  of  the  mushroom  being  called  a  lawn 
pest.  The  fairy  ring  fungus  is  also  a  dainty 
morsel  for  the  epicure,  and  is  the  real  "cham- 
pignon" of  the  French  gourmet. 


PLATE  XXI 


Timothy  should  never  be  put  into  a  lawn  mixture.  It  is  a  coarse 
grass  which  makes  a  stubble  like  wheat  and  after  the  first  year  will 
leave  ugly  holes  in  the  lawn.  The  seed  is  gray-green  in  colour 


English  rye  has  the  largest  of  all  the  lawn  grass  seeds,  and  should  be 
used  where  quick  results  are  wanted.  It  germinates  almost  immedi- 
ately, makes  a  rapid  growth,  and  dies  the  first  season.  It  will  stand 
rough  usage.  In  the  South  it  is  used  for  winter  effect 

SEEDS  OF  TIMOTHY  AND  ENGLISH  RYE 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  LAWN  MIXTURES 

What  is  a  lawn  grass  ? — The  purpose  of  a  mixture — Adaptations  to 
various  soils — Kentucky  blue  grass  and  its  merits — Other  funda- 
mental grasses — How  to  buy  the  seed — Weights  and  measures — 
Prices  and  qualities — Grasses  to  avoid. 

THOUGH  each  of  the  lawn  seed  mixtures  of 
the  reputable  seed  stores  may  be  distinct  from 
all  the  others,  yet  the  differences  are  those  of 
degree  and  not  kind.  In  every  case  the  main 
reliance  is  the  Kentucky  blue  grass,  in  a  finely 
recleaned  sample,  at  the  rate  of  four  bushels 
to  the  acre.  The  fescues  are  added  to  give 
the  quick  effect  of  a  turf  in  the  first  year,  be- 
cause they  make  dense  tufts  of  fine  low  grow- 
ing leaves;  the  red  top  is  used  for  the  purpose 
of  securing  a  stand  in  places  where  the  soil 
may  be  too  acid  or  too  sandy  for  the  Kentucky 
blue  grass;  the  crested  dog's  tail  is  a  tough 
grass  which  makes  a  low  dense  growth  early 
and  stands  hard  wear;  English  rye  is  added 
because  it  germinates  very  quickly;  the  wood 
meadow  grass  and  some  others  of  the  fescues 
are  included  because  they  will  make  a  catch 
87 


88  LAWNS 

in  shady  places;  and  clover  is  frequently 
included,  not  because  it  will  serve  any  special 
purpose,  but  merely  because  some  people  like 
to  have  clover  in  a  lawn. 

The  ideal  lawn  grass  is  one  with  a  creep- 
ing, permanent  stem  and  adapted  to  the 
greatest  variety  of  soils.  Kentucky  blue 
grass  fulfils  these  requirements,  but  it  takes 
a  long  time  to  grow  a  good  turf  from  it. 
Whether  a  lawn  should  be  seeded  with  Ken- 
tucky blue  grass  alone,  or  with  one  of  the 
numerous  lawn  mixtures,  is  a  much  discussed 
problem.  Circumstances  should  govern  the 
decision.  If  an  immediate  result  is  wanted 
the  mixtures  offer  distinct  advantages,  be- 
cause they  contain  some  quicker  germinating 
grasses;  and  if  the  soil  is  of  an  uncertain  or 
mixed  quality  the  mixtures  again  are  valuable, 
because  one  grass  or  another  out  of  the  lot 
will  surely  fit  each  special  soil  condition. 
Kentucky  blue  grass,  though  slow  in  germin- 
ating, makes  a  strong,  permanent  turf,  but  it 
does  not  attain  its  proper  development  until 
the  third  year  after  sowing. 

I  must  confess  a  prejudice  in  favour  of  the 
mixture  if  only  because  I  get  a  quicker  result. 
That  alone  is  worth  a  great  deal  in  ninety- 


THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  LAWN  MIXTURES       89 

nine  cases  out  of  every  hundred.  If  you  can 
afford  to  wait  two  or  three  years  for  the  lawn 
to  assume  a  properly  green  appearance,  it 
may  be  safe  to  seed  it  with  one  kind  of  grass. 

"But  these  extra  grasses  are  wasted  ?"  you 
inquire.  I  do  not  think  so.  It  is  true  that  the 
lawn  will  eventually  become  a  blue  grass  lawn, 
but  that  will  not  be  until  several  years  after 
the  making,  and  in  the  meantime  you  will 
have  a  lawn  to  enjoy.  Moreover  the  quick 
growing  grasses  exclude  weeds,  and  you  get  a 
better  turf  because  you  get  more  grass  plants 
to  the  square  foot  than  if  only  one  grass  is  sown. 

When  a  large  area  is  to  be  turned  into  a 
lawn,  and  the  preparation  of  the  soil  can  be 
carried  out  practically  without  regard  to  the 
cost,  and  there  is  no  hurry  about  results,  it 
may  be  good  to  sow  only  one  kind  of  grass. 
But  in  actual  practice  these  ideal  conditions 
rarely,  if  ever,  exist;  and  particularly  on  the 
average  small  lawn  around  the  suburban 
home  there  are  various  conditions  of  shade, 
partial  shade,  drainage,  and  soil. 

The  chances  are  that  the  contractor  has 
spread  over  the  former  top  soil  a  rich  assort- 
ment of  sundry  materials  of  totally  different 
characters.  The  proper  method  of  remaking 


QO  LAWNS 

the  soil  into  one  of  uniform  texture  and  char- 
acter has  been  discussed  elsewhere,  but  usually 
one  cannot  (or  is  not  willing  to)  wait  a  year 
longer,  and  there  are  considerations  of  ex- 
pense and  appearance  also.  The  trees  and 
shrubs  and  the  buildings  will  cast  shadows 
on  the  lawn,  giving  a  mixed  effect  even  when 
a  uniform  surface  of  one  grass  is  presented, 
and  therefore  the  use  of  a  mixture,  giving,  of 
course,  more  or  less  uneven  expanse  of  colour, 
is  not  objectionable.  The  different  grasses 
which  go  to  make  up  a  well  balanced  mixture 
will  blend  with  each  other  and  even  if  in  certain 
peculiar  situations  one  grass  flourishes  more 
than  another  does  elsewhere  on  the  same 
lawn,  the  total  result  will  be  pleasing.  The 
essential  point  about  the  lawn  is  that  the  surface 
be  of  one  continuous  texture.  This  result  will 
be  derived  more  easily  from  the  use  of  a  mix- 
ture of  seeds  than  from  one  pure  grass  in  the 
open  and  another  totally  different,  in  the  shade, 
where  the  other  has  failed  to  grow  properly. 
The  famous  Kentucky  blue  grass  (Poa 
pratensis}  is  the  best  single  grass  to  use  for  a 
lawn,  and  it  thrives  on  any  but  an  acid  soil. 
When  the  Kentucky  blue  grass  will  not  grow 
(other  things  being  equal),  it  is  a  sign  that 


THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  LAWN  MIXTURES      9! 

the  soil  stands  in  need  of  a  dressing  of  lime, 
which  can  be  applied  at  the  rate  of  one  bushel 
to  a  thousand  square  feet.  But  when  it  will 
grow  it  will  eventually  make  a  good  lawn. 
Unfortunately  it  does  not  maintain  a  fresh 
green  colour  in  the  middle  of  the  summer,  and 
it  is  comparatively  an  expensive  seed.  It  is  a 
strong-growing  grass,  however,  and  when 
used  in  mixtures  generally  crowds  out  the 
other  grasses  in  the  course  of  a  few  years. 
Yet,  since  this  grass  combines  more  desirable 
qualities  than  any  other,  it  should  be  used  as 
the  chief  ingredient  for  lawns  along  the  Atlan- 
tic coast  north  of  Washington  and  along  the 
Alleghany  range  as  far  south  as  Georgia.  It 
is  also  used  on  the  Pacific  coast.  The  success 
of  this  grass  is  assured  on  a  limestone  for- 
mation; but  on  the  coast  line  and  on  bottom 
land  there  is  a  likelihood  of  the  soil  being  acid. 
In  such  places  one  of  the  species  of  Agrostis 
will  give  better  results,  as  at  Newport,  R.  I., 
where  the  Rhode  Island  bent  and  red  top 
are  extensively  used. 

It  is  in  order  to  provide  for  any  such  con- 
ditions occurring  locally — as  is  often  the  case 
even  in  a  very  small  lawn — that  these  grasses 
enter  into  lawn  mixtures,  so  that  if  the  blue 


92  LAWNS 

grass  finds  the  soil  uncongenial,  yet  the  ground 
will  not  remain  bare.  Another  reason  for 
seeding  these  grasses  is  that  they  germinate 
quickly  and  give  results  the  first  year.  Their 
foliage  is  fine  and  the  creeping  stems  form  a 
dense  turf,  very  effectually  binding  loose 
soils. 

Rhode  Island  bent  grass  also  acts  as 
"nurse"  to  the  blue  grass  when  it  germinates 
in  the  early  warm  days  of  the  following  spring. 
If  a  lawn  is  sown  down  with  pure  Kentucky 
blue  grass  in  the  fall  there  will  be  no  result 
whatever  until  the  next  spring,  when,  however, 
it  will  start  earlier  than  from  spring  seeding. 

If  I  wanted  to  secure  a  greensward  for 
immediate  effect,  and  especially  if  it  were  late 
in  the  fall  season,  I  would  sow  freely  Pacey's 
rye  (Lolium  perenne,  var.  tenue,  a  fine-leaved 
form  of  English  rye  grass  that  is  specially 
adapted  to  lawns),  adding  it  to  any  other 
grasses  that  may  be  used  (not  substituting) 
at  the  rate  of  three  pounds  to  the  acre.  It  is 
practically  an  annual  grass  in  this  country. 

This  English  rye  will  start  growth  almost 
as  soon  as  sown,  and  in  a  month  it  will  make 
a  presentable  sheet  of  green.  It  is  not  a  per- 
manent grass,  however,  being  a  biennial  in 


THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  LAWN  MIXTURES       93 

this  country,  and  will  be  obliterated  by  the 
mowing  during  the  second  season. 

Rye  grass  will  stand  hard  usage  and  per- 
mits the  free  use  of  the  lawn  during  the 
first  season.  It  has  been  successfully  used 
on  athletic  club  grounds  (e.g.  the  baseball 
diamond,  Manhattan  Field,  New  York  City) 
to  reseed  each  year  when  the  "permanent" 
grasses  became  worn  and  it  was  not  possible 
to  leave  the  lawn  untouched  for  a  season.  It 
has  not  a  very  fine  foliage,  and  used  too  freely 
would  result  in  a  coarse  looking  sward. 

FOR    SHADED    PLACES 

If  there  are  specially  shaded  places  on  the 
proposed  lawn  site  it  will  be  well  to  procure  a 
different  mixture  to  be  used  on  these  spots. 
In  places  of  varying  degrees  of  shade  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  estimate  the  requirments  so  as  to  decide 
whether  a  pure  shade  grass  shall  be  used. 
Therefore,  as  before,  in  considering  soil  con- 
ditions, it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  use  a  mixture, 
which  includes  shade  loving  grasses.  The  best 
of  these  is  the  wood  meadow  grass  (Poa  nem- 
oralis},  which  thrives  under  trees  where  other 
grasses  fail.  The  crested  dog's  tail  (Cynosurus 


94  LAWNS 

cristatus}  and  the  fine-leaved  fescue  (Festuca 
ovinay  var.  tenuifolia)  are  others  to  be  used. 
The  last  named  is  a  "bunch"  or  "stool" 
grass,  a  type  that  generally  speaking  should 
not  be  admitted  to  the  lawn,  but  as  exceptional 
situations  require  exceptional  treatment  we 
are  justified  in  including  this,  the  finest  leaved 
and  most  slender  growing  of  the  bunching 
grasses.  Moreover  it  is  a  good  bottom  grass 
and  fills  out  well  near  the  ground.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  the  grass  in  heavily  shaded 
spots  is  not  cut  so  frequently  nor  so  closely 
as  that  in  the  open  which  is  growing  well,  and 
the  habit  of  the  fescue  is  therefore  of  some 
advantage. 

The  crested  dog's  tail  is  admirably  adapted 
to  mixing  with  the  Kentucky  blue  grass  be- 
cause its  foliage  is  of  the  same  colour  and  its 
habit  of  growth  is  similar.  Therefore  it  is 
usually  included  in  shade  mixtures.  It  is 
of  no  moment  which  one  gains  a  foothold. 
To  the  casual  observer  the  lawn  presents  an 
uninterrupted  sheet  of  one  colour.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  the  lawn  is  something  to  be 
seen  as  a  whole,  from  a  distance,  and  a  slight 
variation  of  leaf  in  the  grasses  is  of  little 
or  no  moment.  If  the  site  be  damp  as  well 


THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  LAWN  MIXTURES   95 

as  shaded  the  rough-stalked  meadow  grass 
(Poa  tfivialts)  should  be  substituted  for  the 
fescue.  Orchard  grass  is  occasionally  in- 
cluded in  shade  mixtures,  but  it  can  be  omit- 
ted to  advantage,  for  it  is  a  coarse-leaved 
plant  and  makes  a  tuft,  not  an  even  sward. 

ON    SANDY    SOIL 

As  has  been  indicated,  the  species  of  Agros- 
tis  are  specially  adapted  to  sandy  situations. 
The  Rhode  Island  bent  grass  (A.  canind]  and 
the  creeping  bent  or  florin  (^.  alba,var.stoloni- 
ferd)  are  the  foundation  of  mixtures  for  such 
soils,  although  unless  the  land  shows  an  acid 
reaction  it  would  be  well  to  include  some  Ken- 
tucky blue  grass  in  the  mixture,  just  because 
if  it  will  make  a  stand  the  general  appearance 
of  the  lawn  is  improved  by  just  so  much. 
The  colour  of  the  bent  lacks  the  richness  of 
the  blue  grass.  The  red  top  (A.  alba,  var. 
vulgaris),  though  adapted  to  moist  clay  soil, 
is  often  included  in  mixtures  for  sandy  land 
because  of  its  ability  to  make  a  satisfactory 
growth  upon  a  slightly  acid  soil. 

OTHER   SPECIAL    FEATURES 

Other  grasses  are  put  into  mixtures  for 
more  or  less  fancy  purposes,  and  cannot  be 


96  LAWNS 

said  to  be  generally  essential.  Thus  the 
sweet  vernal  (Antboxanthum  odoratuni)  lends 
fragrance  when  the  lawn  is  mown. 

Every  once  in  a  while  a  statement  appears 
advising  that  timothy  be  used  in  a  lawn  mix- 
ture, as  a  nurse.  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  a 
coarse  grass  which  stubbles,  and  is  absolutely 
unsuited  for  use  on  any  lawn  for  ornamental 
purposes  which  is  regularly  mowed.  It  will  die 
out  after  the  second  year,  leaving  ugly  holes 
that  have  to  be  patched  over  or  reseeded  with 
Kentucky  blue  grass.  It  may  be  admitted  in 
wide  meadow  effects,  as  it  will  be  crowded  out 
by  the  creepers  and  the  holes  it  makes  are  not 
eyesores  in  such  situations.  It  is  a  general 
rule  that  no  "bunch"  grass  should  go  into  a 
lawn.  The  only  exception  being  that  of  the 
one  fescue  spoken  of  as  admissable  in  shady 
places. 

SHALL    I    ADD    CLOVER  ? 

Very  frequently  white  clover  (Trifolium 
repens,  var.  perenne)  is  added  to  the  lawn- 
grass  seed.  Whether  or  not  it  shall  be  used 
is  purely  a  matter  of  personal  fancy.  It  does 
no  harm,  it  keeps  green,  and  it  amuses. 
Some  people  like  to  have  clover  on  the  lawn ; 


THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  LAWN  MIXTURES       97 

others  don't.  Just  suit  yourself,  but  remem- 
ber that  white  clover  always  enters  into  the 
store  mixtures,  the  allowance  being  about 
two  pounds  (one  quart)  to  the  acre. 

It  has  this  advantage,  however:  it  will  make 
a  green  covering  in  places  where  many  of  the 
grass  seeds  fail  entirely,  and  on  certain  inert, 
infertile  soils  it  is  not  an  unusual  thing  to  see 
a  better  stand  of  clover  than  of  the  grasses 
themselves.  Indeed,  so  far  as  appearance 
goes,  a  clover  lawn  is  not  at  all  objectionable. 
The  white  clover  makes  a  dense,  quickly 
spreading,  low  growth  and  its  flat  leaves  give 
an  even  smooth  texture  to  the  eye;  but  it  is 
not  a  growth  that  will  stand  rough  usage. 

BUYING    THE    SEED 

It  is  especially  necessary  when  buying 
Kentucky  blue  grass  to  pay  attention  to  the 
various  grades  in  which  it  is  offered.  "If 
you  have  to  shade  your  price  it  is  easy  to  shade 
the  quality."  This  is  an  axiom  which  should 
be  remembered  by  the  purchaser,  as  it  applies 
to  grass  seed  mixtures  with  special  force. 
Kentucky  blue  grass  is  offered  in  grades 
varying  from  50  per  cent,  chaff  to  all  pure 


98  LAWNS 

seed  containing  no  chaff  whatever,  and  as  the 
price  is  based  entirely  on  the  weight  of  the 
actual  seed  contained  it  is  much  better  to  buy 
by  the  pound  than  by  the  quart.  Ask  the 
seedsman  for  "recleaned  fancy"  Kentucky  blue 
grass,  which  may  weigh  even  as  high  as  thirty 
pounds  to  the  actually  measured  bushel. 
In  trade  usage  fourteen  pounds  of  actual  seed 
is  regarded  as  a  standard  bushel  and  is  sold 
as  a  bushel  independently  of  its  actual  bulk. 
Thus,  of  the  poorer  grades,  you  may  have 
two  bushels  of  bulk  and  get  one  bushel  of 
seed. 

A  mixture  of  high  grade  thoroughly  re- 
cleaned  fancy  seed  would  vary  in  price  from 
$4.50  to  $5  per  bushel  according  to  the 
quantities  of  the  rarer  or  special  grasses  that 
were  included  in  the  mixture,  and  cannot  be 
sold  very  much  cheaper  even  in  bulk.  Cheaper 
mixtures  can  be  bought,  and  I  have  seen  ex- 
cellent results  the  first  year  from  lawns  which 
have  been  seeded  with  mixtures  that  cost  as 
low  as  $3  per  bushel.  Indeed,  further  than 
this,  one  gentleman  once  pointed  out  to  me 
with  great  pride  a  lawn  of  about  five  acres  in 
extent,  on  which  he  had  used  two  mixtures, 
one  costing  $5  a  bushel,  the  other  $3  a  bushel. 


THE   TRUTH   ABOUT   LAWN   MIXTURES       99 

He  was  rejoicing  immensely  over  the  fact  that 
he  had  succeeded  in  producing  a  better  look- 
ing lawn  with  the  lower  priced  seed  than  he 
had  with  the  more  expensive  one.  That  was 
his  opinion  the  first  year  after  sowing.  The 
uninitiated  will  he  easily  misled  by  these 
appearances.  The  cheaper  mixture,  assuming 
of  course,  that  in  each  case  thoroughly  recleaned 
seed  was  used,  gives  the  better  earlier  result 
because  it  has  a  larger  percentage  of  quick 
growing  grasses  which  will  eventually  run  out. 
In  the  higher  priced  mixture  where  ultimate 
effect  is  sought  rather  than  early  effect,  the 
more  permanent  grasses  make  a  slower  start, 
but  the  results  are  eminently  more  satisfactory 
in  the  third  year. 

WHAT   TO    AVOID 

For  lawn  making  any  and  all  grasses  that 
form  tufts,  or  stools  or  bunches,  as  they  are 
sometimes  called;  and  grasses  which  do  not 
spread  continuously  by  creeping  stems;  or 
that  have  too  tall  a  growth  without  an 
abundance  of  bottom  leaves;  or  that  die  out 
after  a  year  or  two's  occupancy  of  the  ground, 
are  utterly  unreliable.  Samples  of  these  are 


IOO  LAWNS 

the  well-known  orchard  grass,  timothy,  tall 
meadow  fescue,  hard  fescue,  and  the  oat 
grasses.  In  northern  climates  the  Bermuda 
grass  is  not  desirable  because  of  its  rusty 
brown  appearance  as  soon  as  the  cold  weather 
touches  it. 


CHAPTER  IX 
SEED  MIXTURES  FOR  SPECIAL  PURPOSES 

FROM  the  statements  made  in  the  foregoing 
chapter  it  will  be  seen  that  no  one  grass,  nor 
one  combination  of  several  grasses,  is  equally 
adapted  for  all  soils  and  all  situations.  It  is 
doubtful  indeed  whether  one  mixture  can  be 
given  for  exact  results;  on  the  same  sort 
of  soil  in  different  situations  but  practically 
these  minute  differences  need  not  cause  any 
concern.  The  object  throughout  the  Eastern 
States  is  to  establish  the  Kentucky  blue  grass 
wherever  it  will  succeed;  and  the  prime  reason 
for  adding  other  grasses  is  to  cover  the  ground 
before  the  Kentucky  blue  grass  has  become 
established,  and  therefore  to  occupy  the  ground 
to  the  exclusion  of  weeds.  There  is,  however, 
another  very  essential  service  rendered  by 
these  extra  grasses:  the  fact  that  the  Ken- 
tucky blue  grass  does  not  carpet  the  ground 
as  closely  and  as  low  down  as  some  of  the 
others  makes  it  desirable  to  employ  one  of 
them  to  give  a  green  appearance  to  the  lawn 


102  LAWNS 

immediately  after  cutting.  Yet  another 
point  is  this:  that  mixtures  result  in  a  denser 
turf  at  an  early  date  because  curiously  enough 
more  grasses  will  grow  to  a  given  area  if  there 
is  a  mixture  of  various  species  than  would  be 
the  case  were  one  grass  alone  used. 

A    PRACTICAL    FORMULA 

A  thoroughly  practical  formula  that  has 
been  tried  on  soils  of  average  fertility  and 
composition,  and  which  has  given  thorough 
satisfaction  is  as  follows: 

Kentucky  blue 10  quarts 

Rhode  Island  bent 8  quarts 

English  rye 3  quarts 

This  is  a  crude,  although  reliable  mixture. 
Indeed  it  may  be  called  a  lawn  mixture  re- 
duced to  its  simplest  elements.  The  quan- 
tities given  in  quarts  are  based  on  thoroughly 
recleaned  seed. 

A  more  refined  mixture,  including  a  fancy 
red  top  for  filling  in  during  the  early  years  of 
the  lawn  and  after  the  English  rye  has  lived 
its  life,  is  as  follows: 

Fancy  Kentucky  blue  grass 10  Ibs. 

Fancy   red    top 4  Ibs. 

R.I.  bent 3  Ibs. 

English  rye 3  Ibs . 


PLATE  XXII 


Red  top  is  a  variety  of  bent  grass  unsurpassed  for  growing  on 
sandy  soils  and  is  the  foundation  for  the  lawns  at  Newport.  The  seed 
is  much  smaller  than  that  of  Kentucky  blue  grass  and  is  about  the 
same  size  as  timothy,  but  is  not  so  wide,  and  is  easily  distinguished  by 
its  colour.  Red  top  seed  is  a  light  brown;  timothy  seed  is  gray-green 


The  lawn  grass  mixture  should  be  nearly  all  of  this  grass — Ken- 
tucky blue.  It  is  a  permanent  grass  which  takes  three  years  to  make 
a  perfect  turf,  and  will  in  time  crowd  out  any  other  grasses  that  are 
in  the  mixture  if  the  lawn  is  made  on  a  rich  moist  loam,  not  acid 

SEEDS  OF  THE  TWO  GOOD   LAWN    GRASSES 


PLATE  X2II1 


A  FIRST-CLASS  LAWN  MIXTURE 

The  "lawn  mixtures"  of  the  different  seed  stores  differ  but  little  from  one 
another.  They  are  chiefly  Kentucky  blue  grass  with  rea  top,  Rhode  Island 
bent,  a  little  English  rye,  and  a  small  addition  of  white  clover  (the  round  seed 
shown  in  the  photograph).  Frequently  crested  dog's  tail  is  included.  Twenty 
pounds  is  a  standard  weight  for  a  bushel  of  such  a  mixture,  which  is  composed  of 
fancy,  recleaned  seed.  Uncleaned  seed  weighs  less  to  the  bushel  because  of  the  chaff 


SEED  MIXTURES  FOR  SPECIAL   PURPOSES   103 

This  is  expressed  in  weight  and  may  be 
used  as  a  fair  basis  of  comparison  with  the 
preceding  formula  which  is  expressed  in  bulk. 
This  mixture  would  give  twenty  pounds  to 
the  bushel,  and  would  be  sufficient  for  one 
fifth  of  an  acre,  say  about  8,000  square  feet. 
Fancy  seed  is  specified  in  the  formula  both  as 
regards  the  blue  grass  and  the  red  top.  The 
twenty  pounds  weight  of  this  mixture,  though 
designated  by  many  dealers  as  a  bushel,  would 
not  fill  the  actual  measured  bushel. 

ADAPTING    TO    PECULIAR    CONDITIONS 

This  formula  can  be  adapted  to  special  pur- 
poses by  substituting  any  one  of  the  special 
grasses,  according  to  the  particular  require- 
ments, for  equal  weight  of  blue  grass.  Thusthe 
wood  meadow  grass  could  be  used  in  the  pro- 
portion of  two  to  three  pounds  where  it  became 
necessary  to  seed  a  space  that  was  shaded  by 
trees,  Kentucky  blue  grass  being  reduced  to 
7  pounds.  By  referring  to  the  table  on  page 
162  a  list  of  substitute  grasses  will  be  seen,  and 
notes  are  given  as  to  their  special  character- 
istics and  purposes.  The  following  are 
approved  formulas: 


104  LAWNS 

Mixture  for  Shaded  Places 

Kentucky  blue  grass 40  per  cent. 

Wood  meadow  grass 40     "     " 

Various  leaved  fescue. .    10    "    " 

Crested  dog's  tail 10    "    " 

Mixture  for  Terrace  and  Slopes 

Creeping  bent  (or  Rhode  Island  bent) 40  per  cent. 

Crested  dog's  tail 25     "      " 

Canada  blue  grass 25     "       " 

Kentucky  blue  grass 10    "       " 

The  purpose  here  is  to  secure  quick  grow- 
ing, deep  rooting  grasses  that  will  bind  the 
soil  until  such  time  as  the  permanent  grasses 
are  in  possession.  Also  some  consideration 
should  be  given  to  the  fact  that  such  situations 
may  be  either  extremely  dry  or  at  times  ab- 
normally wet. 

Mixture  for  Putting  Green 

Crested  dog's  tail 30  per  cent. 

Creeping  bent 35    "      " 

Rhode  Island  bent 35     "       " 

The  essential  quality  here  is  a  mixture  of 
grasses  that  will  give  a  dense  short  turf  which 
can  be  kept  closely  cropped  and  will  stand 
a  great  deal  of  trampling.  For  this  reason 
the  blue  grass  and  clover  are  inadmissible. 


SEED  MIXTURES  FOR  SPECIAL  PURPOSES  105 
Mixture  for  the  Fair  Green 

Red  top 35  per  cent . 

Kentucky  blue  grass 35     "       " 

Meadow  fescue 10    "      " 

English  rye 20    "      " 

Much  coarser  growing  grasses  can  be  ad- 
mitted here  than  are  desirable  for  the  put- 
ting green.  The  grass  will  not  be  cut  so 
frequently  and  there  is  no  objection  to  a 
certain  amount  of  coarse  vigorous  growth. 
Cheaper  grasses  can  be  used  in  quantity. 

Mixture  for  Sandy  Soils 

Kentucky  blue  grass 25  per  cent . 

Creeping  bent 30    "      " 

Rhode  Island  bent 30     "       " 

Fine  leaved  fescue 15     "       " 

Sandy  soils  are  usually  dry  without  much 
bottom,  and  to  establish  a  lawn  requires 
quickly  growing  binding  grasses  which  will 
withstand  drought.  If  the  sand  is  acid  Ken- 
tucky blue  grass  cannot  be  counted  upon 
to  succeed  unless  that  condition  can  be  cor- 
rected by  dressings  of  lime. 

Mixture  for  Seaside  Lawns 

Rhode  Island  bent 30  per  cent. 

Creeping  bent 30    "      " 

Kentucky  blue  grass 25    "      " 

Beach  grass 15    «      « 


106  LAWNS 

Usually  there  is  considerable  difficulty  in 
establishing  Kentucky  blue  grass  in  maritime 
regions.  There  is  a  good  field  for  pro- 
gressive work  in  introducing  suitable  grasses 
for  lawns  on  the  sea  coast.  At  the  present 
time  the  chief  reliance  is  on  some  of  the 
species  of  Agrostis  or  bent  grasses.  This 
mixture  should  result  in  a  substantial  lawn 
on  any  sort  of  soil.  The  beach  grass  wiH 
take  a  hold  where  the  blue  grass  fails,  but 
it  is,  generally,  not  a  desirable  lawn  grass. 

Mixture  for  Clay  Soils 

Kentucky  blue  grass 50  per  cent . 

English  rye 20     "       " 

Fancy  red  top* 30     "       " 

Generally  with  very  little  preparation,  so 
as  to  improve  the  physical  condition  and 
drainage,  these  soils  will  maintain  excellent 
blue  grass  lawns.  The  rye  grass  recom- 
mended gives  the  early  quick  result,  the  red 
top  makes  a  bottom  grass,  and  the  blue  grass 
is  the  permanent  feature. 

Mixture  for  Wet  and  Bottom  Lands 

Kentucky  blue  grass 30  per  cent. 

Rough  stalk  meadow  grass 30     "       " 

English  rye 20    "      " 

Various  leaved  fescue.  .  .  20     "       " 


*  There  are  various  grades  of  red  top  offered  weighing  from  fourteen 
to  thirty-six  pounds  to  the  measured  bushel.  Fancy  red  top  seed  will 
range  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  pounds  per  bushel  and  has  no  chaff. 


SEED  MIXTURES  FOR  SPECIAL  PURPOSES  IOJ 

Of  course  grasses  that  are  particularly 
adapted  to  sandy  soils  must  be  omitted  here. 
Fortunately  Kentucky  blue  grass  will  thrive  on 
moist  soils,  and  should  form  a  very  large  per- 
centage of  the  mixture.  In  order  to  keep  out 
the  weeds  a  fair  percentage  of  the  quickly 
growing  rye  grass  is  included.  The  rough 
stalk  meadow  grass  is  essentially  a  wet  land 
grass  and  will  thrive  nowhere  else. 

Mixture  for  Hill  Tops 

Kentucky  blue  grass 40  per  cent . 

Rhode  Island  bent 25     "       " 

Creeping  bent 20     "       " 

Sheep  fescue 10     "       " 

White  clover 05     "       " 

To  a  certain  extent  the  same  grasses  as  are 
recommended  for  terrace  mixture  may  be 
used  on  hill  tops,  provided  the  situation  has  a 
good  soil  and  does  not  become  unduly  dry. 
Rapidly  creeping,  binding  grasses  are  essential, 
and  white  clover  should  never  be  omitted 
because  it  will  make  a  quick  growth  and 
carpet  the  ground  in  places  where  the  grasses 
fail  to  make  a  stand. 

SPECIAL    NOTES    OF    INTEREST 

These  formulas  are  expressed  in  percen- 
tages by  weight  in  order  that  the  reader  may 


IO8  LAWNS 

gain  some  graphic  idea  of  the  relationships 
of  the  various  grasses. 

It  is  assumed  that  thoroughly  recleaned 
fancy  grades  may  be  used  throughout.  There 
is  no  use  whatever  buying  the  lower  grade 
samples  which  may  consist  of  fifty  per  cent, 
chaff. 

Clover  is  not  included  in  all  the  foregoing 
formulas  but  may  be  added  if  fancy  dictates, 
and  it  had  better  be  sown  separately,  after  the 
grass  seeds,  because,  being  a  heavy  seed,  it  is 
likely  to  settle  to  the  bottom  of  the  mixture. 

These  formulas  are  in  every  case  merely 
suggestive  and  in  practice  can  possibly  be 
modified  in  every  case  to  the  great  advantage 
of  all  concerned.  There  is  no  such  thing  as 
a  universally  best  mixture.  A  comparison  of 
the  foregoing  formulas  with  the  following 
table  and  the  exercise  of  common  sense  will 
yield  more  satisfactory  results  than  the  strict 
adherence  to  the  printed  text. 


CHAPTER  X 

LAWNS    FOR    SUBTROPICAL    REGIONS 

The  difficulties  of  southern  climates — Heat  resistent  grasses  and  sub- 
stitutes— A  hardy  Bermuda  grass — Perfect  lawns  for  the  South, 
California  and  Arizona. 

IN  THE  Southern  States,  and  where  sub- 
tropical conditions  prevail,  the  problem  of 
lawn  making  differs  from  that  which  is  met 
in  the  Northern  States.  In  the  latter  region 
the  Kentucky  blue  grass  is  the  basis  of  all 
good  lawns,  and  indeed  there  is  no  better  grass 
for  making  a  permanent  green  sward.  But, 
unfortunately,  while  it  is  adapted  to  a  very 
great  variety  of  soils  and  situations,  it  cannot 
stand  the  excessive  heat  of  the  Southern  sum- 
mers. South  of  the  latitude  of  Washington 
D.  C.,  except  in  the  Alleghany  Range,  where 
the  blue  grass  will  grow  as  far  south  as  north-* 
ern  Georgia,  some  substitute  for  Kentucky 
blue  grass  must  be  sought.  On  the  lighter 
soils  white  clover,  red  top,  and  Rhode  Island 
bent  are  more  to  be  relied  upon,  and  they 
make  a  beautiful  soft  lawn,  but  they  lack  the 
109 


I IO  LAWNS 

permanent  character  of  the  Kentucky  blue 
grass. 

South  of  Washington  white  clover  forms  an 
important  feature  of  all  lawns  and  as  the 
subtropical  regions  are  approached,  the  grass 
gradually  gives  place  to  the  clover.  As  one 
proceeds  south,  and  as  the  region  of  the  Ken- 
tucky grass  ends,  the  region  of  Bermuda  grass 
(Capriola,  or  CynodontDactylon)  begins.  This 
may  be  regarded  as  the  permanent  lawn  grass 
of  the  South.  It  is  a  rapidly  creeping  grass, 
makes  a  substantial  growth  in  warm  weather, 
but  unfortunately  suffers  from  cold  and  turns 
brown  as  soon  as  frost  touches  it.  Though 
the  roots  are  permanent  and  will  survive  the 
winters  the  top  dies,  and  in  the  northern 
regions  of  the  southern  section  of  the  country, 
some  substitute  or  rather  companion  grass  is 
necessary  to  give  the  green  appearance  during 
winter.  It  is  particularly  adapted  to  the 
sandy  soils  of  the  Atlantic  coast  plain,  standing 
heat  and  drought,  and  it  may  be  mown  over 
frequently. 

A  system  of  double  seeding  is  resorted  to 
where  Bermuda  grass  lawns  suffer  from  frost 
in  the  winter.  In  order  to  keep  the  green  col- 
our all  the  year  around,  English  rye  grass 


LAWNS  FOR  SUBTROPICAL  REGIONS        III 

is  annually  scattered  over  the  lawn  at  the  rate 
of  about  fifty  pounds  to  the  acre.  This  is 
done  about  the  end  of  September  or  the 
beginning  of  October,  first  raking  over  the 
surface  of  the  soil  and  applying  a  top  dressing 
from  the  compost  heap.  This  seed  will 
germinate  in  a  week,  and  by  the  middle  of 
November  will  have  formed  a  perfect  lawn, 
which  will  remain  green  all  the  winter.  By 
the  following  May  it  will  have  died,  just 
at  the  time  when  the  Bermuda  grass  is 
again  starting  into  growth.  It  has  been 
found  that  ploughing  in  from  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  to  a  thousand  pounds  of  cotton  seed 
meal  to  the  acre  before  sowing  or  planting 
the  Bermuda  grass  (which  work  is  done  in 
January  at  the  rate  of  six  pounds  to  the  acre) 
puts  the  soil  in  excellent  condition.  Surface 
dressings  of  cotton  seed  meal  may  also  be 
given  after  scarifying  in  the  fall,  previous  to 
broadcasting  the  rye  seed. 

A    HARDIER    BERMUDA    GRASS 

There  is  a  specially  hardy  form  of  the  Ber- 
muda grass  which  has  been  introduced  into 
Oklahoma  within  the  last  few  years,  and 


112  LAWNS 

seems  to  be  well  adapted  to  that  latitude,  al- 
though it  may  be  of  doubtful  value  in  the 
northern  parts  of  the  state.  This  grass,  after 
fourteen  years  of  experiment  and  observation, 
has  been  proved  to  be  better  adapted  for 
lawn  purposes  in  this  state  than  is  the  com- 
moner form  which  freezes  black  in  winter  and 
remains  as  a  disfigurement  on  the  ground 
until  late  May.  The  hardy  form  begins  its 
growth  during  the  last  days  of  March.  As 
an  illustration  of  its  suitability  it  may  be  stated 
that  on  the  College  Campus,  at  Stillwater, 
where  Kentucky  blue  grass  failed — as  did  all 
kinds  of  mixtures,  including  the  fescues  and 
the  clovers — this  hardy  Bermuda  grass  formed 
a  complete  lawn  in  three  seasons.  It  re- 
mains green  from  April  to  October. 

Bermuda  grass  is  generally  propagated  by 
cuttings  or  rather,  to  be  more  correct,  by  small 
pieces  of  turf  which  are  planted  a  few  inches 
apart  and  will  eventually  grow  together  to 
form  a  perfect  turf. 

ST.   AUGUSTINE    GRASS   FOR    FLORIDA 

Still  farther  south,  in  Florida,  where  still 
different  conditions  prevail — a  much  warmer 


LAWNS  FOR  SUBTROPICAL  REGIONS       113 

climate  and  greater  humidity — there  is  oppor- 
tunity for  yet  other  grasses  to  be  used  for 
lawns,  and  the  St.  Augustine  grass  (Steno- 
tapbrum  secundatum  also  known  as  S.  Amen- 
canum)  is  the  grass  relied  upon  for  lawn  pur- 
poses. It  has  a  coarse  and  very  upright  leaf 
but  a  creeping  root  stock.  It  remains  in  a 
green  condition  practically  throughout  the 
whole  year,  and,  so  far  as  giving  the  green 
colour  so  desirable  for  landscape  effects  is 
concerned,  answers  every  requirement.  It 
is  not,  however,  a  perfect  lawn  grass.  It  is 
adapted  to  a  wide  area  and  succeeds  in  the 
West  Indies  displacing  the  Bermuda  grass 
even  in  the  Island  of  Bermuda. 


THE    KOREAN    LAWN    GRASS 

From  Charlestown,  south  along  the  sea- 
coast,  very  satisfactory  results  have  been  ob- 
tained by  the  use  of  the  Korean  lawn  grass 
known  to  botanists  by  the  name  of  Osterdarma 
matrella.  This  is  a  creeping  or  stoloniferous 
grass  with  rather  rigid  often  sharp  pointed 
leaves  and  tapering  tender  spikelets.  Two 
or  three  other  species  of  the  genus  have  been 
introduced  but  the  one  named  is  reported 


114  LAWNS 

upon  by  Professor  L.  C.  Corbett  (Farmers'  Bul- 
letin No.  248)  in  these  words:  "It  thrives  well 
in  the  latitude  of  Washington,  but  the  leaves 
are  not  hardy  and  assume  a  straw  colour  in 
winter.  It  will,  however,  undoubtedly  be  a 
decided  acquisition  for  lawns  near  the  sea- 
shore in  latitudes  south  of  Washington." 

In  the  Gulf  Coast  country,  what  is  known 
as  carpet  grass  (Paspalum  compressurri)  has 
been  receiving  extended  favour  and  appears 
to  be  a  very  suitable  companion  to  the  Ber- 
muda grass.  It  is  readily  propagated  in  the 
same  way  as  the  latter,  but  it  also  seeds.  This 
is  one  of  the  best  pasture  grasses  of  the  low 
moist  country  along  the  Gulf  Coast,  and  it  is 
here  that  it  may  be  expected  to  find  its  chief 
use  as  a  lawn  grass,  although  its  range  of 
distribution  is  from  Virginia  to  Texas. 
In  the  dryer  regions  of  our  western  prairies 
the  Buffalo  grass  (Bulbilis  dactyloides)  is 
becoming  established. 

HOW    SOUTHERN    CALIFORNIA    GOT 
ITS    LAWN    PLANTS 

But  perhaps  the  most  promising  of  all  the 
lawn  grass  substitutes  for  southern  and  dry 


LAWNS   FOR  SUBTROPICAL   REGIONS        115 

regions  is  the   fog  plant   (Lippia   nodi  flora}. 

Dr.  F.  Franceschi  of  Santa  Barbara  has 
given  most  favourable  reports  on  its  behaviour 
in  southern  California,  lawns  having  been 
successfully  established  where  otherwise  no 
sort  of  success  has  been  achieved. 

Dr.  Franceschi  gives  this  account  of  its 
introduction: 

"It  was  in  1869,  barely  one  year  before 
the  fall  of  the  second  Empire,  when  the  cen- 
tennial of  the  first  Napoleon  was  celebrated 
with  great  festivities  at  his  birthplace,  Ajaccio, 
in  Corsica.  The  Superintendent  of  Parks  of 
the  City  of  Florence,  Signor  Pucci,  to  whom 
the  floral  decorations  had  been  entrusted, 
was  quite  struck  with  Lippia,  as  it  had  been 
used  in  the  public  garden  of  Ajaccio.  He  took 
some  with  him  to  Florence,  and  put  it  on 
trial  in  one  of  the  public  gardens.  There  it 
did  so  well  that  it  soon  spread  to  other  parts 
of  Italy,  and  particularly  along  the  Riviera, 
where  the  climatic  conditions  are  very  much 
like  southern  California. 

"In  the  year  1898  my  daughter  who  had 
recently  come  from  Italy,  called  my  attention 
to  the  fact  that  for  several  years  already 
Lippia  had  been  used  to  carpet  the  esplanade 


Il6  LAWNS 

at  the  Naval  Academy  at  Leghorn,  where  500 
boys  had  their  daily  drilling,  and  all  sorts  of 
games.  It  was  obvious  to  think  that  if  Lippia 
had  done  so  well  in  Italy  it  ought  to  do  the 
same  in  California.  From  the  Director  of 
the  Botanic  Garden  in  Rome  I  secured  by 
mail  a  small  tin  box  of  Lippia  plants  (less 
than  12  ounces  weight).  Now,  after  six  years, 
there  are  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  acres 
planted  with  Lippia,  between  California, 
Arizona,  Mexico,  and  Australia,  and  it  all 
came  out  of  that  small  tin  box.  And  had  it  not 
been  for  the  celebration  of  the  centennial  of 
the  great  Napoleon,  probably  this  humble 
plant  would  still  grow,  little  known  and  un- 
appreciated, only  on  the  coast  of  Corsica  and 
other  points  along  the  Mediterranean." 

The  following  are  the  cultural  directions 
for  establishing  lawns  of  this  plant: 

Have  your  ground  well  worked  and  pul- 
verised, levelled,  and  rolled  if  possible.  No 
manure  recommended. 

Lippia  seeds  very  sparingly  or  not  at  all. 
Anyhow,  the  best  and  quickest  way  to  propa- 
gate it  is  by  planting  small  sods  (two  square 
inches)  at  a  distance  of  about  one,  or  two,  or 
more  feet  apart.  The  closer  it  is  planted 


LAWNS  FOR  SUBTROPICAL  REGIONS   1 17 

the  sooner  the  ground  will  be  carpeted.  Each 
small  sod  contains  many  joints,  and  from  each 
joint  runners  and  roots  will  soon  appear  that 
will  branch  in  every  direction,  and  will  anchor 
it  in  the  ground,  rooting  again  as  they  run. 

Press  and  well  firm  the  sods  in  the  ground 
and  give  sufficient  water  to  start  growth.  Oc- 
casional rolling  will  be  of  advantage.  Fre- 
quent walking  over  it  will  have  the  same  effect. 

If  the  tiny  lilac  flowers  (much  sought  after 
by  the  bees)  are  not  desired,  they  can  easily 
be  removed  by  an  ordinary  lawn  mower. 

During  the  dry  season  water  must  be  given 
with  a  lawn  sprinkler  or  otherwise,  at  inter- 
vals as  the  local  conditions  will  suggest. 

Much  experimental  research  is  now  being 
carried  on  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture, 
with  a  view  to  discovering  some  substitute 
grass  which  will  be  for  the  South  what  the 
Kentucky  blue  grass  is  for  the  North.  Among 
subjects  of  recent  investigation  are  various 
species  of  clover  and  grasses  imported  from 
Asia  and  Australia.  It  is  unfortunately  too 
early  at  this  time  to  state  definite  results  con- 
cerning these  imported  lawn  substitutes,  but 
attention  is  called  to  them  so  that  the  inquiring 
reader  may  follow  up  the  lines  of  investigation. 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE   BEST    LAWN  TOOLS   AND  THEIR  USE 

The  few  essentials— Types  of  mowers — The  power  mower — Preventing 
damage  from  horses— Rollers— Sweepers— Rakes— Weeders— Trim- 
ming tools — The  use  of  the  shears — The  simple  grass  hook — Hose, 
and  hose  — Keeping  life  in  it — Turfing  irons — The  scythe. 

THE  essential  tools  for  making  and  main- 
taining a  lawn  are  comparatively  few.  The 
possible  tools  are  many.  At  the  beginning 
of  things  a  good  plough,  a  sub-soil  plough, 
and  a  steel-toothed  harrow  must  be  had,  but 
these  can  hardly  be  properly  called  lawn 
tools;  they  are  equally  essential  to  the  fun- 
damental ground  work  of  any  part  of  the 
estate.  The  special  tools  for  after  main- 
tenance consist  of  the  lawn  mower,  the  roller, 
and  the  rake. 

FOR    CUTTING 

The  mower  can  be  had  in  various  patterns 
and  at  prices  ranging  upward  from  two  and 
a  half  dollars,  the  figure  varying  both  with  the 
style  of  construction  and  the  width  of  the  cut. 


BEST  LAWN  TOOLS  AND  THEIR  USE      Iig 

For  all  ordinary  purposes  buy  a  lawn  mower 
not  less  than  twelve  inches  wide.  If  the 
lawn  is  of  any  size  above  that  common  in 
the  ordinary  suburban  lot  it  will  be  wise 
economy  to  procure  a  machine  of  not  less 
than  sixteen-inch  cut,  and  where  the  labour 
can  be  easily  had,  it  may  be  well  to  go  several 
sizes  larger  even  up  to  twenty-one  inches. 

At  the  best  of  times,  and  under  the  best  of 
conditions,  the  work  of  mowing  the  lawn  is 
somewhat  burdensome,  therefore  buy  a  mower 
of  the  ball  bearing  type.  The  ease  with  which 
a  machine  of  this  type  can  be  operated  as  com- 
pared with  one  of  the  older  articles,  is  some- 
thing extraordinary.  A  mere  child  can  very 
well  handle  a  medium  sized  machine  of  the 
modern  light  running  model.  There  is  abso- 
lutely no  reason  why  you  should  make  your- 
self a  draught-horse  when  the  inconvenience 
can  be  avoided  for  many  years  by  the  invest- 
ment of  a  five  dollar  bill  in  the  beginning. 
All  modern  lawn  mowers  throw  the  clippings 
to  the  rear  so  that  they  may  be  left  on  the 
lawn  when  the  machine  is  used  without  a 
catch-box,  as  is  usually  the  case  where  mow- 
ing is  done  at  frequent  intervals. 

For  large  lawns  mowers  drawn    by  horses 


I2O  LAWNS 

are  great  time  savers,  and  if  a  horse  is  kept  at 
all  the  purchase  of  a  horse  mower  should  be 
decided  on  at  once.  It  takes  very  little  time 
to  hitch  up  the  horse  of  an  evening  and  run 
over  the  lawn.  For  the  average  garden 
there  is  no  neccessity  to  buy  a  mower  which 
can  be  set  very  close  to  the  ground;  in  fact, 
the  possibility  of  being  able  to  shave  the  sur- 
face is  a  dangerous  feature,  in  the  majority 
of  cases. 

For  putting  greens,  where  as  low  clean-cut 
and  even  a  surface  as  possibleis  essential, a  spec- 
ial type  of  mower  is  used,  and  it  can  be  taken 
over  the  ground  after  the  cutting  with  a  ma- 
chine of  the  regular  type.  In  general  a  lawn 
should  not  be  cut  closer  than  two  inches. 

Some  mowers  combine  rollers  with  the 
knives.  These  are  most  useful  on  narrow 
strips  of  grass  bordering  walks  or  flower  beds 
where  it  is  impossible  to  use  the  heavier  type 
of  roller.  But  the  light  weight  of  the  machine 
that  is  involved  with  ease  of  manipulation, 
for  the  average  purpose,  renders  the  roller 
useless  as  a  factor  in  the  maintenance  of  the 
lawn.  It  is  only  in  the  larger  type  of  ma- 
chine, which  is  drawn  by  a  horse  and  which 
carries  the  driver  upon  it,  that  the  rollers  be- 


PLATE  XXV 


THE  PROPER  KIND  OF  ROLLER 

Persistent  rolling  is  of  vital  importance  in  the  maintenance  of  a  lawn.  Use 
a  sectional  roller  because  turns  can  be  made  without  injuring  the  grass,  the 
sections  working  independently.  The  water  ballast  roller  can  be  weighted 
to  suit  the  strength  of  the  operator,  varying  from  three  to  six  hundred  pounds 


BEST  LAWN  TOOLS  AND  THEIR  USE      121 

come  efficient,  therefore  it  is  far  better  to 
separate  the  two  tools  and  have  the  small 
rollers  on  the  mower  merely  for  the  purpose 
of  supporting  the  rest  of  the  machine.  Large 
driving  wheels  are  an  advantage.  They  give 
a  high  gearing  and  the  knives  being  operated 
at  a  high  speed  cut  more  evenly  and  with 
less  pull.  When  properly  adjusted  the 
knives  sharpen  themselves  on  the  plate,  the 
only  care  necessary  being  to  keep  the  machine 
clean. 

For  very  large  estates  the  motor  combined 
lawn  mower  and  roller  is  an  engine  that  should 
be  considered.  The  thorough  and  frequent 
rolling  that  a  lawn  will  thus  receive  is  a  factor 
of  considerable  importance  in  favour  of  such 
a  machine.  They  will  weigh  up  to  three 
thousand  pounds,  and  the  two  operations  of 
rolling  and  cutting  can  be  conducted  at  one 
time  without  the  use  of  a  horse.  Such  great 
pressure  effectually  stamps  out  crab  grass. 

There  is  always  this  drawback  to  the  use  of 
a  horse  on  the  lawn :  that  holes  will  be  made 
by  the  feet.  This  is  obviated  to  some  extent 
by  the  use  of  lawn  horse  shoes,  contrivances 
of  leather  and  wood  which  are  tied  over  the 
hoofs,  thus  distributing  the  weight  over  a 


122  LAWNS 

larger  area.  It  is  unfortunately  true  that  the 
greater  necessity  for  rolling  exists  at  the  time 
of  year  when  the  ground  is  most  susceptible 
to  surface  injuries. 

WEIGHT   OF    ROLLER 

The  roller  should  weigh  three  hundred 
pounds,  or  even  more  if  there  is  a  man  strong 
enough  to  operate  one  of  greater  weight. 
Heavy  rolling  in  the  spring  saves  the  lawn 
from  burning  in  the  summer  and  obviates,  in 
a  degree  that  is  very  rarely  understood,  the 
necessity  for  summer  watering.  Therefore 
the  heavier  the  roller  the  better.  One  man 
should  be  able  to  operate  a  three  hundred 
pound  roller,  but  it  will  take  two  people  to 
properly  use  a  heavier  tool. 

Lawn  rollers  are  also  made  with  weight 
boxes  attached  by  which  the  weight  of  the 
tool  can  be  adjusted  to  the  strength  of  the 
operator.  It  is  no  use  buying  a  roller  which 
weighs  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds.  Of  the  larger  size  draught  rollers 
there  are  many  patterns  and  they  can  be  had 
in  all  weights  up  to  two  thousand  pounds, 
which  will  cover  a  track  of  six  feet.  The 


BEST  LAWN  TOOLS  AND  THEIR  USE      123 

smaller-sized  rollers  which  are  adapted  for 
general  use  will  cover  a  track  of  twenty 
inches. 

An  ingenious  improvement  is  the  water 
ballast  roller  in  which  the  cylinder  is  ballasted 
with  water  or  sand  so  as  to  increase  its  weight 
by  which  means  a  three  hundred  pound 
machine  can  have  its  efficiency  actually 
doubled. 

It  is  important  to  buy  a  sectional  roller  for 
lawns.  The  smaller  sizes  are  made  in  two 
sections  and  the  larger  horse-power  rollers  will 
run  up  to  six  sections.  The  great  advantage 
of  this  arrangement  is  in  the  ease  with  which 
the  tool  can  be  turned  without  tearing  or 
dragging  the  surface  of  the  lawn. 

For  cleaning  up  grass  clippings  or  fallen 
leaves,  sweeping  machines  are  made  but 
generally  the  work  is  done  by  hand  rakes. 
These  are  of  light  construction,  very  wide, 
and  are  either  wood  or  steel  wire  made  in  a 
series  or  arched  teeth.  For  scarifying  the 
surface  of  the  lawn,  as  for  instance  when  it  is 
necessary  to  haul  up  crab  grass  or  for  seeding, 
an  ordinary  sharp-pronged  steel  garden  rake 
is  much  better. 


124  LAWNS 

WEEDING    AIDS 

For  deep-rooted  weeds  like  dandelion  there 
are  a  number  of  special  weeders  which  are 
attached  to  long  handles  and  which  enable 
the  operator  to  work  without  getting  down  on 
his  hands  and  knees. 

These  tools  all  operate  on  the  principle  of 
cutting  off  the  crown  of  the  plant  an  inch  or 
two  below  the  surface  and  some  of  them  have 
a  claw,  or  other  gathering  arrangement,  by 
which  the  severed  crown  can  be  lifted  and 
thrown  into  a  handy  receptacle.  Others 
again  are  made  on  the  style  of  a  gouge  by 
which  a  cylinder  of  soil  containing  the  root 
is  withdrawn. 

A  very  simple  and  the  most  handy  tool  of 
its  kind  for  use  where  the  worker  does  not 
object  to  bending  his  back  or  getting  down 
on  his  knees  is  what  is  known  as  the  American 
asparagus  knife.  Though  introduced  prim- 
arily for  plunging  into  the  asparagus  beds 
to  cut  off  the  young  growth  some  inches  below 
the  ground,  it  has  been  found  to  be  especially 
adapted  as  a  lawn  weeder  and  is  more  often 
used  for  this  adventitious  purpose  than  it 
is  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  especially 


BEST  LAWN  TOOLS  AND  THEIR  USE      125 

designed!  This  consists  of  a  steel  blade 
about  ten  or  twelve  inches  long,  widest  at  the 
top  where  it  has  an  expanse  of  about  an  inch 
and  a  half.  A  V-shaped  notch  at  this  end 
which  is  rough  sharpened  with  a  chisel  edge 
can  be  thrust  deeply  into  the  ground  for  cut- 
ting off  such  roots  as  dandelion  or  dock  or  it 
may  be  used  as  a  surface  shaver  in  attacking 
plantains.  All  these  small  weeding  appli- 
ances range  in  price  from  twenty-five  cents 
to  half  a  dollar,  and  earn  their  money's  worth 
easily  in  the  first  season. 

When  cutting  out  large  strong  growing  weeds 
with  long  roots,  holes  are  made  in  the  lawn 
which  must  be  filled  with  good  garden  soil 
and  immediately  sprinkled  over  with  a  pinch 
of  lawn  mixture,  so  that  the  grass  may  take 
immediate  hold  to  the  entire  exclusion  of 
weeds. 


EDGING   AND    TRIMMING   TOOLS 

The  edge  of  the  lawn  where  it  borders 
walks  or  flower  beds  needs  careful  trimming 
and  maintenance.  If  it  becomes  irregular 
or  is  battered  down,  very  much  of  the  neat 
appearance  of  the  lawn  itself  is  lost.  The 


126  LAWNS 

traffic  across  the  lawn  will  also  have  a  ten- 
dency to  batter  down  the  edges.  Once  a 
week,  when  mowing  is  taken  in  hand,  the 
edges  should  be  carefully  examined,  and  with 
the  garden  rake,  turned  upside  down,  any 
broken  portions  may  be  easily  rebuilt.  If 
this  little  detail  is  attended  to  regularly,  and 
the  damage  not  allowed  to  become  exagger- 
ated, it  is  surprising  how  little  time  and  work 
will  be  occupied  in  maintaining  a  decent 
appearance. 

The  lawn  mower  will  not  cut  the  edges,  and 
although  there  are  attachments  made  for 
certain  styles  of  mowers  and  even  special 
edge  cutters  in  machine  form,  it  cannot  be 
said  that  they  have  proved  practically  suc- 
cessful. They  easily  become  clogged  with 
dirt  or  pick  up  stones  and  the  cutting  edge 
is  damaged.  Then  the  irregularity  of  the 
height  of  the  lawn  above  its  surroundings 
renders  it  somewhat  difficult  to  exactly  gauge 
the  depth  to  which  such  a  cutter  should  be 
set.  In  actual  practice,  even  on  the  very 
largest  estates,  it  is  found  better  to  use  what 
is  known  as  edging  shears  for  trimming.  The 
man  handling  the  shears  usually  follows  the 
man  with  the  mower.  These  shears,  which 


BEST  LAWN  TOOLS  AND  THEIR  USE      127 

are  set  in  long  handles,  the  knives  working 
upward  and  downward,  can  be  used  very 
easily  and  any  irregularity  or  unevenness  of 
the  surface  or  the  edge  itself  is  easily  followed 
and  the  grass  trimmed  off  accurately. 

Even  in  small  gardens  it  is  worth  while  to 
invest  in  a  pair  of  edging  shears  rather  than 
the  spring  shears  sometimes  referred  to  as 
sheep  shears,  which  are  frequently  used  by 
suburbanites,  not  only  for  trimming,  but  even 
for  cutting  the  entire  surface.  Work  with 
this  tool  is  laborious,  and,  except  for  trim- 
ming, will  result  in  an  irregular  patchy  job. 

The  sheep  shears  should,  however,  form 
part  of  the  equipment  of  the  lawn  tool  outfit. 
They  are  really  necessary  for  finishing  off 
in  angles  of  buildings  or  the  borders  of  for- 
mal beds,  and  especially  for  trimming  after 
the  mower  close  up  to  the  trunks  of  trees  or 
masses  of  shrubbery  where  it  is  not  possible 
to  run  the  machine.  Particular  care  should 
be  exercised  to  keep  the  lawn  mower 
well  clear  of  the  bases  of  trees  or  overhang- 
ing branches  of  shrubberies  which  skirt  the 
lawn.  In  the  one  case  there  is  danger  of 
"barking"  the  trees  from  the  projecting  parts 
of  the  mower,  and  it  is  utterly  impossible  to 


128  LAWNS 

run  the  knives  directly  up  to  the  tree;  in  the 
other  case  the  mower  is  likely  to  clip  off  a 
lower  growth  of  the  shrubs  just  where  they 
form  unions- with  the  grass.  This  will  result 
in  giving  the  shrubbery  itself  an  appearance 
of  being  an  excrescence  upon  the  lawn — a 
thing  set  down  upon  it  accidentally  and  im- 
properly, rather  than  part  of  a  happy  and 
tasteful  composition  and  union  in  the  sur- 
rounding borders  and  distant  masses  of  other 
shrubs  and  trees.  After  the  mower  has 
been  used  to  cut  the  larger  surface  of  the 
grass  the  spring  shears  are  taken  in  hand  and 
any  untouched  corners  or  tufts  of  grass  are 
hand  trimmed. 

Another  useful  hand  cutter  is  the  grass 
hook,  a  modified  form  of  sickle  designed 
especially  for  cutting  grass  with  a  sharp,  easy 
swing.  It  is  a  sort  of  miniature  scythe.  Its 
disadvantage  is  that  one  has  to  crawl  over  the 
ground  when  working.  It  is  useful  in  small 
gardens,  however,  where  there  are  narrow 
borders  of  grass,  for  which  it  would  hardly  be 
worth  while  purchasing  a  machine  mower 
with  small  knives. 

The  edging  iron,  which  is  used  for  trimming 
the  edges,  is  a  serviceable  tool  but  is  hardly 


BEST  LAWN   TOOLS  AND  THEIR  USE      I2Q 

a  necessary  part  of  the  equipment  for  the 
amateur  with  only  a  city  lot.  This  tool  con- 
sists of  a  half  circle  of  steel  set  in  a  handle,  and 
is  used  to  trim  around  borders  and  curves. 
It  is  specially  serviceable  for  straightening  up 
and  squaring  sides  of  the  lawn  which  have 
spread  over  their  original  line.  This  trueing 
becomes  necessary  every  once  in  a  while,  be- 
cause the  traffic  and  the  natural  inclination  of 
the  soil  to  spread  and  level  out  uneven  edges 
tends  to  destroy  the  strict  original  line. 

In  the  spring  time  it  is  well  indeed  to  take 
the  garden  line  and,  by  means  of  it  and  a  two- 
edged  board,  follow  around  all  the  edges  of 
the  lawn  with  the  edging  iron,  cutting  down 
into  the  ground  below  and  thus  straightening 
out  the  unevennesses  that  may  have  re- 
sulted from  the  winter. 

THE    HOSE    AND    ITS    CARE 

Notwithstanding  what  has  been  pre- 
viously said  regarding  the  use  of  the  hose  and 
the  propriety  of  watering  as  little  as  prac- 
ticable, a  hose  should  enter  into  the 
equipment.  The  standard  rubber  hose 
is  known  as  four  ply,  and  perhaps 


130  LAWNS 

more  particularly  in  the  hose  than  in  any 
other  of  the  tools  it  is  economy  to  buy 
the  highest-priced  goods  on  the  market. 
Cheap  hose  is  the  most  costly  in  the  long  run. 
A  good  quality  pure  rubber  hose  will  last 
several  seasons  whereas  the  cheaper  article 
will  generally  be  worn  out  before  it  has  been 
used  twelve  months.  Exposure  to  the  air, 
and  the  fact  of  being  continually  wet,  is 
destructive  to  any  but  the  very  best  quality 
of  rubber,  and  further  the  water  pressure 
is  a  matter  of  much  moment.  If  a  high- 
pressure  city  supply  is  used  for  watering  the 
garden  it  will  often  be  necessary  to  have  a 
hose  that  will  stand  pressure  up  to  two  hun- 
dred pounds.  Many  of  the  poorer  grades 
of  hose  offered  are  not  guaranteed  above 
seventy-five  pounds.  The  difference  in 
price  of  the  two  qualities  is  about  30  per  cent. 
Unless  the  ground  is  peculiarly  rocky  a 
plain  hose  is  better  than  an  armoured  hose. 
This  latter  consists  of  a  rubber  hose  which 
is  wound  over  by  a  spiral  wire  covering. 
It  is  considerably  heavier  in  use,  but  its 
worst  characteristic  is  that  when  dragged 
across  a  lawn,  and  especially  on  edges  cross- 
ing walks,  it  cuts  into  the  surface  and  makes 


BEST  LAWN  TOOLS  AND  THEIR  USE      13! 

ugly  channels,  particularly  if  the  ground  is 
wet  and  loose. 

Garden  hose  is  regularly  manufactured 
in  multiples  of  twenty-five  feet  lengths. 
There  is  a  great  advantage  in  having  just 
a  little  more  than  is  actually  necessary.  The 
reserve  length  is  always  handy  in  case  of 
accident  and  the  consequent  necessity  of 
cutting  down  one  of  the  sections.  As  offered 
in  the  stores  the  hose  comes  conplete  with 
front  and  end  couplings  for  attachment  to 
the  faucet  and  for  uniting  with  any  other 
length.  The  standard  dimensions  of  garden 
hose  are  three  quarter  inch  and  one  inch  hose. 
It  is  better  to  use  the  larger  size. 

Nozzles  to  be  used  on  the  hose  are  of  various 
types.  One  of  the  best  is  what  is  known  as  the 
graduating  spray.  By  means  of  this  at- 
tachment the  water  can  be  thrown  in  a  fine 
or  coarse  spray  or  in  a  solid  jet.  This  adds 
considerably  to  the  general  utility  of  the  hose 
and  it  can  be  used  as  well  for  watering  and 
for  washing. 

After  use  the  hose  should  be  carefully 
wound  up  and  taken  inside,  out  of  the  sun. 
Never  leave  it  lying  around  when  out  of  use, 
and  never  allow  it  to  stand  loaded  with  water. 


I32 


LAWNS 


The  stop  nozzle,  though  occasionally  con- 
venient, is  often  dangerous.  Far  better  to 
throw  the  end  of  the  hose  down  on  the 
lawn  letting  the  water  run  from  it,  then  run 
back  to  the  stand  pipe  or  faucet,  cutting  off 
the  supply  at  that  point. 

If  you  have  more  than  twenty-five  feet  of 
hose  some  arrangement  for  winding  it  is  a 
great  convenience.  The  hose  reel  is  usually 
made  with  travel  wheels;  the  union  being 
made  with  the  stand  pipe  the  reel  can  be 
wheeled  out  into  the  garden  thus  extending 
the  hose  in  the  direction  in  which  it  is  to  be 
used.  If  the  hose  is  wound  on  to  the  reel 
after  use  it  will  be  practically  drained  of 
water,  and  the  gathering  up  is  done  without 
any  dragging  over  the  surface  and  cutting  the 
edges  of  the  lawn,  or  scratching  the  hose  itself 
by  being  drawn  over  gravel  walks. 

In  lawn  making  from  sods  the  turfing 
iron  is  indispensable.  This  consists  essen- 
tially of  a  long  necked  thin  flat  spade  fitted 
at  such  an  angle  that  it  works  flat  on  the 
ground,  or  rather  in  the  ground,  as  it  is  used 
under  the  sod  both  for  cutting  and  relaying. 
Its  use  in  laying  or  repairing  with  sods  lies 
in  the  ease  with  which,  by  its  means,  any  ir- 


BEST  LAWN   TOOLS  AND   THEIR   USE      133 

regularites  of  the  surface  or  of  the  sod  can  be 
straightened  out.  For  instance,  if  a  sod  of 
uneven  depth  is  laid  down  it  is  easy  with  the 
turfing  iron  either  to  cut  out  the  ground  from 
below  at  one  end  or  to  distribute  properly 
the  quantity  of  loose  soil  at  the  other  end — 
soil  which  is  always  kept  handy  in  the  wheel- 
barrow when  working  on  the  lawn,  and  from 
which  a  handful  is  taken  and  thrown  under 
the  sod. 


THE     NEGLECTED    SCYTHE 

Just  because  so  few  people  nowadays  under- 
stand its  manipulation,  the  scythe— the  ideal 
cutting  instrument — has  fallen  into  disuse. 
For  newly  made  lawns  it  is  infinitely  superior 
to  the  lawn  mower  as  it  cuts  without  tearing, 
without  pulling.  And  a  lawn  mowed  by  an 
expert  shows  no  signs  whatever  of  having 
been  cut.  The  inevitable  streakiness  which 
follows  the  use  of  the  lawn  mower  operated 
in  different  directions  is  not  seen  after  the 
scythe  is  used.  Another  advantage  of  this 
instrument  is  that  the  depth  at  which  it  will 
cut  can  be  graded  to  a  nicety,  and  there  is  no 
necessity  to  follow  it  up  with  trimming 


134  LAWNS 

shears  because  it  can  be  used  in  the  sharpest 
corners.  Its  use  is  restricted,  however,  to 
very  large  lawns  and  it  is  not  a  tool  to  which 
the  amateur  gardener  need  give  any  atten- 
tion. 


Solid  marginal  planting  of  evergreens   and  deciduous  shrubbery  bordering 
the  public  road,  thus  securing  absolute  privacy.     (View  on  a  Lenox  estate) 


The  bed  of  lily-of-the-valley  successfully  solves  the  problem  of  what  to  plant 
under  the  trees  and  it  also  gives  a  reason  for  the  curve  in  the  walk 

LAWN   PICTURES— I 


CHAPTER  XII 
How  To  MAKE  LAWN  PICTURES 

The  artistic  qualities  of  the  lawn — Grouping  trees  and  shrubs — Two 
main  styles  of  treatment— Making  the  most  of  small  areas— Colour 
values— Grass  walks— Locating  flower  beds — Staking  the  outlines 
Shaping  the  beds — Making  an  ellipse — Tracing  curves  and  contra 
curves — Art  in  design — Walks — Isolated  clumps  of  shrubbery. 

CLOSELY  associated  with  the  making  of 
the  lawn  is  the  planting  around  it.  So 
close  indeed  is  this  association  that  the  term 
"lawn"  has  become  significant  of  the  general 
outlook  of  the  grass  and  shrubbery  effect. 
The  greensward  is  as  the  canvas  on  which 
the  artist  paints,  with  living  trees  and  shrubs 
as  his  pigments.  After  all  the  grass  itself 
is  not  the  picture  but  only  the  setting. 

OPEN   AND    BELT   PLANTINGS 

There  are  two  broad  general  principles 
into  which  all  treatments  of  the  marginal 
planting  and  surrounding  grounds  may  be 
grouped.  On  the  one  hand  is  what  may 
be  called  the  open  treatment,  and  on  the 
other  the  close  or  belt  treatment. 
135 


136  LAWNS 

The  open  treatment  is  best  adapted  to 
large  areas  where  park-like  effect  is  sought. 
It  adds  enormously  to  the  apparent  distance, 
and  in  the  hands  of  a  skilful  landscape 
gardener  will  result  in  the  creation  of  the 
most  charming  compositions  and  realisations 
of  distant  effects.  All  the  beauties  of  the 
surrounding  landscape  may  thus  be  drawn 
into  and  made,  part  of  the  home  grounds. 
The  distant  lake,  the  far  off  hillside,  and  the 
rolling  masses  of  upland  and  dale,  should 
not  be  lost  by  excessive  belt  planting.  Judic- 
ious treatment  in  this  style  leads  the  ob- 
server's eye,  in  successive  steps  from  point 
to  point,  until  he  unconsciously  connects 
the  whole  of  the  distant  landscape  with  the 
immediate  foreground,  and  actually  deceives 
himself  into  a  belief  of  a  wide  expanse  of  the 
property.  This  is  the  highest  type  of  land- 
scape composition,  one  which  is  all  too  little 
thought  of  by  the  majority  of  owners,  who 
fail  to  draw  into  their  home  pictures  the  salient 
features  of  the  natural  surroundings. 

If  there  is  a  naturally  dense  plantingor  wood- 
land which  cuts  off  the  distant  scene  it  should 
by  all  means  be  opened  up.  "Vistas" 
should  be  made.  Everything  in  the  outlying 


HOW  TO  MAKE   LAWN  PICTURES  137 

country  that  is  beautiful  should  be  brought 
into  sight  of  the  home  lawn;  and  all  mass 
plantings  should  be  designed  with  the  ob- 
ject of  either  helping  the  general  composition 
toward  these  outlying  points,  or  for  the  pur- 
pose of  obliterating  whatsoever  is  ugly  and 
objectionable.  This  open  treatment  is  not 
impossible,  sometimes,  on  even  very  small 
lawns.  It  is  worth  while  giving  long  and 
earnest  thought  to  the  possibilities  of  the 
surroundings,  and  making  the  plantations  of 
the  home  garden  in  direct  relation  to  these 
other  features. 

THE    SECLUDED    GARDEN 

In  crowded,  suburban  districts,  where  the 
distant  landscape  is  merely  an  accumulation 
of  more  or  less  unpicturesque  habitations  of 
man  in  the  conventional  form,  the  hap- 
pier result  is  usually  had  by  so  massing  the 
plantings  around  the  lawn  as  to  cut  off  what- 
ever abuts,  and  so  to  actually  emphasise  the 
seclusion  of  the  home.  Primarily  the  garden 
is,  or  should  be,  a  private  outdoor  room,  and 
the  immediate  adjoinment  of  the  house 
ought  to  be  designed  in  reference  to,  and  in 


138  LAWNS 

relation  with  the  main  lines  of  the  building 
it  supports,  rather  than  with  the  far  distance. 
These  two  essentially  different  yet  not  in- 
harmonious points  of  view  are  too  often  con- 
fused. The  results  are  incongruous  or  ludi- 
crous. Fancy  putting  a  "cut-off"  plantation 
at  the  far  end  of  a  stretch  of  a  five-acre  lawn 
which  comes  to  look  like  a  mere  hedge  in  the 
distance,  clearly  marking  a  boundary  and 
a  separation  from  the  distant  view,  and  hav- 
ing no  apparent  reason — that  is  no  artistic 
reason — for  its  existence.  As  in  structural 
art,  in  architecture,  etc.,  every  line  and  every 
curve  should  be  a  part  of  the  structural 
scheme,  and  have  its  existence  justified^ 
so  also  it  is  with  the  landscape.  Every  mass 
or  group  of  trees  should  justify  itself,  or 
form  part  of  the  general  whole. 

LANDSCAPE    IN    THE    CITY    LOT 

Open  treatment  of  a  small  lawn,  such  as 
is  met  with  in  a  city  or  suburban  lot,  usually 
is  unsatisfactory  because  it  brings  into  the 
lines  of  sight  the  more  undesirable  and  ob- 
trusive features  of  the  surrounding  lots. 
But  even  with  the  close  border  planting  it  is 


HOW  TO  MAKE   LAWN  PICTURES  139 

not  by  any  means  impossible  to  increase  the 
apparent  distances  by  means  of  judicious 
curves  and  graceful  lines. 

Very  much  may  be  accomplished  in  this 
respect  by  the  use  of  proper  plants  which 
by  means  of  their  colour  values  help  in  the 
composition  of  the  picture.  Thus,  for  in- 
stance, the  white  birch  planted  nearly  at  the 
end  of  a  long  and  narrow  stretch  of  lawn  run- 
ning between  shrubbery  borders,  will,  by 
immediately  fixing  the  eye,  create  the 
impression  of  a  much  greater  depth  than 
actually  exists,  and  especially  if  beyond  this 
again  some  few  feet  away  is  a  mass  of  plant- 
ing in  which  the  blue  tone  is  dominant. 
Yellow  colours  should  be  placed  only  in  fore- 
grounds because  of  the  fore-shortening  effect 
that  they  give  us.  Masses  of  yellow  foliage  or 
flowers  placed  at  the  distant  point  of  the  lawn, 
no  matter  how  skilfully  the  general  plan  may 
have  been  made,  will  inevitably  result  in 
destroying  all  sense  of  perspective. 

GRASS   WALKS 

The  grass  walk,  or  turf  walk  as  it  is  more 
commonly  called,  is  an  all  too  rarely  seen 


I4O  LAWNS 

feature  of  our  gardens.  In  many  places 
where  there  are  parallel  borders,  separated 
by  only  a  few  feet,  the  greatest  artistic  effect, 
the  more  reposeful  feeling,  and  certainly  the 
most  natural  setting  and  environment  for  the 
plants  of  the  border  will  be  made  by  filling 
in  the  intervening  space  with  grass  rather 
than  with  gravel.  These  grass  walks  are 
something  more  than  extensions  of  the  lawn 
idea.  They  unite  the  different  masses  of 
plantings  and  bring  them  in  as  integral  parts 
of  the  garden  itself.  Abrupt  changes  from 
one  style  of  garden  to  another  should  be 
avoided  if  possible. 

MAKING    FLOWER    BEDS 

Where  flower  beds  are  to  be  placed  on  the 
lawn  it  is  far  better  to  treat  the  whole  surface 
in  the  first  place  as  one  unbroken  grass  area, 
cutting  in  the  beds  later,  when  the  grass  has 
become  thoroughly  established.  The  final 
result  is  better  because  the  cut  edges  will  be 
more  sharply  defined,  and  it  is  far  easier,  in 
the  first  place,  to  make  an  unbroken  stretch  of 
lawn  than  it  is  to  work  in  and  out  between  and 
around  more  or  less  complicated  bed  outlines. 


HOW  TO  MAKE   LAWN   PICTURES  14! 

It  is  a  very  easy  matter  to  cut  these  beds,  and, 
moreover,  their  form  and  proportions  can  be 
determined  in  exact  relation  to  each  other 
and  to  the  surroundings. 

In  starting  to  make  beds  on  an  already 
established  lawn  they  should  be  outlined  by 
stout  wooden  stakes,  driven  into  the  ground. 
These  can  be  adjusted  and  moved  until  the 
area  to  be  converted  suits  the  eye.  Use  stout 
wooden  stakes  about  twelve  inches  long, 
sharpened  at  one  end,  and  preferably  un- 
painted.  When  the  stakes  have  been  driven 
into  position  a  cord  can  be  drawn  all  around 
them,  which  will  mark  the  outline  of  the  fu- 
ture bed.  Another  advantage  from  working 
in  this  way  is  that  the  grass  can  be  taken  up 
in  the  form  of  turf  and  used  to  patch  up  any 
irregularities  that  have  occurred  in  other  parts 
of  the  lawn. 

The  form  and  outline  having  been  deter- 
mined, the  line  can  be  cut  around  by  plunging 
a  sharp  spade  into  it  and  working  it  forward 
toward  the  inside  of  the  bed  at  each  thrust. 
Digging  should  then  commence  at  the  centre 
of  the  bed;  the  work  gradually  extending  out- 
ward in  a  series  of  circles  until  the  whole  of 
the  surface  has  been  turned  under.  If  this 


142  LAWNS 

is  properly  done  the  contour  of  the  bed  will  be 
almost  perfect  and  can  be  easily  finished  off 
by  means  of  the  garden  rake.  Of  course  it 
would  be  well  to  spread  manure  over  the  grass 
before  it  is  dug  under. 

The  edges  of  the  bed  should  be  protected 
by  flat  boards  which  will  take  the  tread  of  the 
workmen,  and  also  keep  the  grass  clean.  The 
grass  that  is  turned  under  should  be  buried, 
if  possible  a  foot  below  the  surface,  where  it 
will  soon  rot  and  add  to  the  humus  of  the  soil. 
There  need  be  no  fear  that  the  grass  will  grow 
and  make  a  weedy  bed. 

HOW   TO    SHAPE    THE    BEDS 

Beds  of  regular  form  can  easily  be  marked 
out  by  means  of  a  stake  and  line.  Thus,  to 
make  a  circular  bed,  drive  a  stake  in  the  centre, 
and  with  a  noosed  cord — the  noose  being 
slipped  over  the  stake,  and  the  cord  of  a 
length  equal  to  half  the  diameter  of  the  de- 
sired bed — the  outline  can  be  scratched  on 
the  grass.  Use  another  sharply  pointed 
stake  or  an  iron  rod  for  scratching  this  out- 
line, and  cut  the  outline  deeper  by  means  of 
an  edging  iron  or  spade. 


HOW  TO  MAKE   LAWN  PICTURES 


The  staking  of  a  square  bed  is  simplicity 
itself.  All  that  is  necessary  being  four  stakes 
and  two  true  edged  boards  with  which  right 
angles  can  be  marked.  In  this  case  begin 
from  one  corner  driving  the  stake  until  it 
is  standing  squarely  in  the  ground,  then  lay 
one  of  the  boards  alongside  it,  and,  measuring 
off  the  required  distance  for  the  side  of  the 
bed,  drive  another  stake.  Without  removing 
the  first  board  lay  the  other  one  against  it  at 
right  angles,  outside  of  the  stake,  and  proceed 
in  the  same  manner  until  the  four  sides  are 
marked. 

Except  in  public  places,  in  close  proximity 
to  buildings,  and 
even  often  in  such 
situations  also,  the 
ellipse  will  give  a 
much  more  satis- 
factory bed  than 
the  true  circle,  and 
it  can  be  made  just 
as  easily.  Here 
is  the  method:  If 
only  the  major 
axis  be  known, 
mark  that  on  the 


AB  is  the  major  axis  of  the  ellipse. 
Divide  this  line  into  three  equal  parts, 
at  D  and  C.  With  D  as  centre  and 
distance  DA,  describe  the  arc  of  the 
circle  GAJ.  With  C  as  centre  and 
distance  CB,  describe  the  similar  arc 
KBH.  At  the  points  E  and  F  (where 
these  circles  intersect),  as  centre,  de- 
scribe the  arcs  JK  and  GH. 


144 


LAWNS 


ground  by  two  stakes  and  divide  it  into 
three  equal  parts.  With  the  length  of  one 
of  those  parts  as  the  radius,  and  with  the  two 
inner  stakes  as  centres,  trace  two  circles  which 
will  cut  each  other  at  two  points  equal  dis- 
tance from  the  main  axis  and  which  will 
mark  the  shorter  axis  on  the  figure.  Place 
a  stake  at  each  of  these  points,  and  from  each 
one  of  these  as  a  centre,  and  with  twice  the 
radius  formerly  used,  describe  the  arc  of  a 
circle  which  will  connect  with  the  circum- 
ferences of  the  smaller  circles.  The  outline 
of  the  figure  is  now  complete. 

A  rougher  method  and  one  much  more  gen- 
erally used,  is  to  first  mark  the  major  axis.     At 
a  distance  slightly  less  than  one  third  of  that 
axis,  and  from  one 
end    of  it,    drive 
another     stake. 
From    the    other 
end    of    the    line 
measure    off    the 
same  distance  and 
drive    another 
stake.     Now  take 
a    cord     fastened 
loosely  to  each  of 


With  AB  as  the  major  axis,  insert 
stakes  at  D  and  C.  Fasten  a  cord  to 
the  two  stakes  D  and  C,  but  long 
enough  to  pass  round  B.  Removing  B, 
and  keeping  the  cord  drawn  tight,  mark 
the  outline  of  the  figure,  as  atBBi. 


HOW  TO  MAKE   LAWN  PICTURES  145 

the  inner  stakes  and  of  such  a  length  that  it 
will  just  slip  over  one  of  the  end  stakes,  then 
removing  this  end  stake  to  use  as  a  marker* 
and  holding  the  line  perfectly  tight,  move 
around  the  foci,  firmly  marking  the  outline 
of  the  figure  desired. 

THE    MAKING   OF    CURVES 

As  a  matter  of  fact  precision  in  tracing 
curves  for  outlines  of  borders  along  the  lawn 
is  not  necessary.  This  is  true  even  when 
carrying  out  an  exactly  drawn  plan  on  paper. 
It  must  always  be  borne  in  mind  that  these 
curves  are  not  to  be  taken  in  a  bird's  eye  view. 
They  will  not  be  looked  at  from  above  but 
from  the  front.  Therefore  after  the  general 
scheme  has  been  staked  out  on  the  ground 
the  final  positions  should  not  be  accepted 
without  considerable  experiment  in  varying 
the  position  of  the  stakes  to  see  that  the  most 
happy  arrangement  has  been  made.  Long 
sweeping  curves  can  generally  be  marked  by 
eye  better  than  by  any  mechanical  means. 
The  director  of  the  work  should  stand  at  some 
fixed  point  and  have  an  assistant  carrying  a 
supply  of  pointed  stakes  which  he  places  in  the 


146  LAWNS 

ground  as  instructed.  By  shifting  them 
backward  and  forward,  and  from  side  to 
side,  most  pleasing  effects  can  easily  be  pro- 
duced. 

In  very  few  cases  are  regular  curves  really 
necessary.  Occasionally,  however,  as  in 
making  turns  for  carriage  drives,  it  is  de- 
sirable that  true  results  be  obtained.  In 
tracing  contra  curves  it  is  very  desirable  that 
they  be  very  nearly  true,  and  especially  if 
these  are  parallel  as  might  be  the  case  in 
extending  a  turf  walk  from  the  lawn  proper 
to  the  other  parts  of  the  garden.  In  these 
cases  one  curve  should  be  traced  first  by  the 
eye  and,  the  stakes  having  been  finally  driven, 
the  opposite  curve  is  then  laid  by  a  repro- 
duction of  the  first. 

We  will  suppose  a  straight  line.  The  gar- 
den line  may  be  used  to  mark  this.  The  two 
ends  of  the  line  should  mark  the  extreme 
ends  of  the  contra  curve  which  will  cross 
the  line  exactly  at  its  centre.  Measuring 
from  the  beginning  of  one  curve  to  the  point 
of  intersection  between  the  curve  and  garden 
line,  find  the  centre,  and  from  that  measure 
the  distance  to  the  outline  of  the  curve.  Lay 
it  off  similarly  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  line 


HOW  TO  MAKE   LAWN  PICTURES  147 

to  mark  the  other  half  of  the  contra  curve. 
From  the  point  of  intersection  with  the  per- 
pendicular and  the  original  curve  draw  a  line 
to  the  starting  point,  and  another  to  the  point 
where  the  curve  intersects  the  straight  line. 
From  these  bases  measurements  may  be 
taken  as  necessary  for  reproduction  of  the 
other  half  of  the  curve.  This  is  the  simplest 
form  of  laying  a  curve  but  the  method  can 
be  adapted  to  more  complicated  figures  by 
merely  increasing  the  number  of  base  lines. 
The  essential  point  to  be  guarded,  and  the 
one  which  it  is  most  easy  to  trip  over,  is  in 
making  the  curve  continuous  where  it  changes 
direction  at  the  point  of  crossing  the  guide 
or  straight  line. 

OBSTACLES    AND    CURVES 

Every  change  of  curve  made  in  a  walk  or 
a  border  or  a  driveway  should  have,  must 
have  indeed,  its  real  or  apparent  reason. 
Merely  winding  walks  are  a  nuisance  and 
tiresome.  They  will  not  even  be  used.  A 
"short  cut"  will  inevitably  be  made,  re- 
sulting in  a  complete  cutting  up  of  the  lawn 
into  irregularly  formed  patches.  A  curve, 
though  of  itself  beautiful,  becomes  irksome 


148  LAWNS 

when  laid  on  the  ground  without  any  support 
or  reason.  At  the  same  time  straight  lines 
should  generally  be  avoided.  Therefore 
masses  of  shrubbery,  a  flower  bed,  an  old  tree 
retained  from  the  original  clearing,  or  a  rock 
abutting  from  the  ground,  should  be  worked 
into  the  scheme.  These  "obstacles"  may 
not  be  merely  natural  features.  They  can 
be  imported  or  artificially  made.  The  num- 
ber and  variety  of  the  curves  must  be  in  pro- 
portion to  the  surface  and  contour  of  the 
ground.  The  more  hilly  or  undulating  it  is 
the  more  numerous  may  be  the  curves.  The 
entrance  from  the  public  road  is  made  at 
right  angles  so  as  to  give  the  greatest  ease 
of  approach  from  all  directions.  But  if 
there  is  room  the  curve  should  begin  imme- 
diately inside  the  ground,  a  reason  for  its  doing 
so  being  established  by  a  judicious  planting 
or  flower  bed. 

A  convenient  width  for  a  walk  is  eight 
feet,  with  half  that  width  for  side  paths  over 
which  there  is  not  traffic. 

PLANTING   GROUPS    OF   TREES 

In  planting  small  isolated  groups  of  trees 
or  shrubs  the  triangle  should  form  the  basis 


HOW  TO  MAKE   LAWN  PICTURES          149 

in  every  case.  The  equilateral  triangle, 
however,  should  be  avoided,  as  should  the 
very  commonly  seen  method  of  planting  five 
trees  in  a  rough  circular  form  with  a  sixth 
in  the  centre.  A  far  better  effect  would  be 
obtained  by  planting  only  five,  for  instance, 
in  a  four-sided  figure,  no  two  sides  of  which 
were  of  the  same  length  the  odd  specimen 
being  placed  in  the  centre.  Before  planting, 
stakes  should  be  driven  in  and  moved  about 
until  a  satisfactory  composition  is  reached. 
Neither  should  the  group  be  regarded 
from  one  point  of  view  only.  Naturally 
there  will  be  one  main  aspect  for  every  group, 
and  sometimes  it  will  be  so  compelling  as  to 
preclude  the  possibility  of  adjustment  from 
other  points  of  view.  The  situation  will 
then  be  met  by  secondary  or  subsidiary 
groupings  of  low  growing  shrubs  in  the  de- 
sired direction.  When  groups  or  masses 
consist  of  more  than  half  a  dozen  specimens 
they  should  be  considered,  structurally,  as 
consisting  of  several  groups,  and  the  individ- 
ual plants  should  be  regarded  as  forming 
points  of  various  triangles. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  PECULIAR  REQUIREMENTS  OF 
PUTTING  GREENS 

Why  a   poor   soil   is  preferred — Special    grasses— Worms  and    their 
"casts" — Watering,  rolling,  feeding  and  other  care. 

A  PUTTING  GREEN  differs  fundamentally 
from  a  lawn;  the  only  association  of  the  two 
lies  in  the  fact  that  both  consist  of  grass. 
The  golfer  demands  a  green  upon  which  the 
ball  may  be  played  with  the  same  delicacy 
and  precision  of  touch  as  the  billiard  player 
seeks  in  the  bed  of  his  table.  But  there  is 
this  difference;  while  the  billiard  table  must 
be  an  absolute  level,  the  putting  green  must 
have  a  rolling  or  undulating  surface. 

As  to  the  grass :  what  is  needed  is  a  short, 
very  dense,  springy  turf  on  a  very  firm  soil- 
bed.  The  grass  therefore  must  be  of  a  very 
fine-leaved  kind,  which  will  make  a  growth 
so  close  to  the  ground  as  to  be  almost  a  part 
of  it.  For  these  reasons  it  is  evident  that 
the  Kentucky  blue  grass  (or  any  other  of  the 
poas)  is  quite  unsuitable.  On  the  other 
150 


PLATE  XXX 


Two  radically  different  styles  of  treatment.  In  the  upper  view  there  is  open 
treatment  planted  for  perspective  effect,  with  the  lawn  itself  as  the  chief  sub- 
ject: all  the  lines  converge  in  the  distance.  In  the  lower  picture  the  lawn  is 
merely  the  groundwork  on  which  plants  and  garden  furniture  are  displayed 

LAWN   PICTURES— II 


REQUIREMENTS  OF  PUTTING  GREENS  15! 

hand  the  bents  and  the  fescues — without 
clover — answer  admirably. 

As  to  the  soil  preparation :  here  again  the 
requirements  are  quite  distinct  from  those 
indicated  for  an  ornamental  lawn.  To  help 
the  fine,  short  growth,  a  poor,  sandy  seed 
bed  and  an  abundantly  drained  sub-soil  (pref- 
erably of  gravel)  is  necessary.  For  a  lawn 
make  the  soil  rich  anu  deep;  for  a  putting 
green  make  it  shallow,  and  dry.  If  the 
course  lies  on  a  clay  or  loam,  import  sand — 
sea  sand  if  possible.  Seeding  should  be 
much  thicker  than  for  lawns — say  twice  the 
quantities  recommended  earlier. 

Mr.  Walter  J.  Travis,  the  well  known 
world's  golf  champion,  writes  thus: 

"How  many  players  appreciate  how  impor- 
tant a  part  putting  plays  in  the  game  of  golf  ? 
In  a  general  way,  every  one  realises  the  value 
of  good  putting.  A  good  putt  covers  a 
multitude  of  shortcomings  through  the  green. 

"Considering,  then,  how  very  important 
a  feature  in  the  game  putting  really  is  it 
becomes  highly  desirable  that  the  greens 
should  be  the  subject  of  the  most  intelligent 
care  and  attention.  Putting  is,  practically, 
the  heart  and  soul — the  quintessence  of  golf. 


152  LAWNS 

It  calls  for  judgment,  confidence,  coolness, 
and  delicacy  of  touch. 

"  I  have  played  over  a  number  of  greens  on 
'the  other  side,'  and,  while  I  admit  that  they 
enjoy  greater  climatic  advantages,  which  go 
far  toward  making  their  greens  naturally 
better  than  ours,  yet  I  cannot  recall  a  single 
course  which  possesses  better  putting  greens 
than  we  have  at  present  at  Garden  City;  and 
few  approach  them  in  excellence,  so  far  as 
trueness  and  turf  are  concerned. 

"They  are  in  such  excellent  shape,  prin- 
cipally by  reason  of  the  methods  adopted  in 
their  up-building  and  maintenance;  owing, 
also,  a  great  deal,  to  the  natural  advantages 
in  the  way  of  a  coarse  sand-and-gravel 
foundation. 

"It  is  quite  within  the  reach  of  most 
courses  to  closely  approximate  such  greens — 
even  where  the  soil  conditions  are  vastly 
different — if  proper  attention  is  given  the  sub- 
ject, hand  in  hand  with  unremitting  care. 
Let  me  briefly  outline  the  general  conditions 
governing  the  proper  treatment  of  a  green. 

SPRING  WORK 

"In  the  early  spring,  immediately  after  the 
frost  is  out  of  the  ground,  a  man  should  go 


REQUIREMENTS  OF  PUTTING  GREENS     153 

carefully  over  such  parts  as  are  not  entirely 
covered  with  grass,  with  a  nail  tamper — 
procurable  at  any  of  the  leading  seedsmen's 
— followed  by  another  man,  who  carefully 
scatters  grass  seed  into  the  holes  made.  At 
the  same  time  a  thin  coating  of  carefully 
screened,  rich  loam  should  be  sprinkled  over 
the  surface  treated.  By  indenting  the  ground 
with  innumerable  small  holes  you  are  sure 
of  getting  the  seed  to  stay  just  where  it  is 
wanted,  instead  of  its  being  blown  away  by 
the  wind  or  washed  away  by  the  first  rain- 
fall, especially  if  it  is  on  a  slope. 

"Work  of  this  kind  can  also  be  done  at  any 
time  from  April  until  October;  but,  in  the 
summer  months,  it  must  be  followed  up  by 
continuous  watering  until  the  grass  is  fairly 
well  started.  If  for  any  reason  the  new  grass 
fails  to  materialise,  keep  at  the  work  until  it 
does.  It  is  impossible  to  have  too  close  a  carpet 
of  grass  on  a  green.  Where  nine-tenths  of  the 
ground  is  covered,  the  balance  being  made 
up  of  bare  spots  here  and  there,  it  is  very 
easy  to  get  the  whole  covered.  These  bare 
spots  are  usually  caused  by  rolling  down 
worm  casts.  Before  a  green  is  cut  or  rolled, 
the  green  should  be  brushed.  The  better, 


154  LAWNS 

and  in  the  end  the  most  economical  plan,  is 
to  get  rid  of  the  offending  worms  by  applying 
a  mixture  of  corrosive  sublimate  [see  page 

157]- 

FEEDING 

"Do  not  put  fertilisers  of  any  kind  on  a 
green  except,  perhaps,  some  bone  dust,  and 
then  only  once  every  three  or  four  years.  If 
the  soil  is  very  poor  a  thin  top  dressing  of 
well-screened  loam,  plentifully  mixed  with 
seed,  may  be  applied  in  the  spring.  The 
chief  trouble  with  most  greens,  however,  is 
that  the  soil  is  too  rich  and  the  grass  is,  con- 
sequently, coarse. 

"Probably,  the  best  seed  mixture  for  greens 
is  Rhode  Island  bent  and  creeping  bent  in 
equal  proportions.  These  thrive  well  in 
nearly  all  kinds  of  soil.  A  coarse  green  can 
be  very  sensibly  improved  by  seeding  with 
this  mixture  every  season,  and  also  by  the  use 
of  sand  in  the  late  fall  and  early  spring. 

"Whenever  a  weed  of  any  kind  shows 
itself  it  should  at  once  be  cut  out  and  a  pinch 
of  seed  put  in.  In  the  early  years  of  a 
green,  before  the  grass  is  well  established, 
weeds  will  appear,  and  the  only  thing  to  do 


REQUIREMENTS  OF  PUTTING  GREENS     155 

is  to  systematically  go  over  the  entire  green 
every  season  and  cut  them  out  with  a  sharp 
knife  as  far  down  at  the  roots  as  possible. 
And  the  same  way  with  crab  or  summer 
grass.  This  treatment,  faithfully  pursued 
for  a  season  or  two,  followed  by  careful  seed- 
ing, will  make  it  almost  impossible  for  weeds 
to  find  a  lodgment. 

WATERING 

"During  the  hot  and  dry  summer  months 
the  greens  should  be  thoroughly  soaked  at 
least  twice  a  week  by  letting  the  water  run 
through  a  revolving  sprinkler.  If  necessary 
keep  the  water  going  all  day,  moving  the 
sprinklers  from  time  to  time.  Watering  in 
this  way,  even  under  a  hot  sun,  is  infinitely 
better  than  just  wetting  the  surface  in  the 
evening.  The  latter  practice,  in  point  of 
fact,  does  more  harm  than  good,  as  it  results 
in  the  roots  of  the  grass  bunching  themselves 
close  to  the  surface — the  only  place  where 
the  moisture  is — instead  of  boring  down,  as 
they  should.  Therefore  don't  be  afraid  to 
soak  a  green.  No  injurious  effects  will 
come  from  the  hot  sun  pouring  down  its  rays 


156  LAWNS 

if  watering  is  done  during  the  daytime.  On 
the  contrary  much  good  is  done  as  the  water 
is  usually  cold — sometimes  very  cold — and 
the  sun  offsets  this,  which  is  not  the  case 
when  the  water  is  applied  at  night. 

MOWING   AND    ROLLING 

"Cutting  a  green  seems  a  simple  thing, 
but  it  is  well  to  remember  that  no  green  should 
be  cut  twice  with  the  mower  running  the  same 
way.  If  it  was  cut  north  and  south  last  time, 
run  the  mowers  east  and  west  next  time,  and 
so  on,  alternately.  If  cut  circularly,  reverse 
in  the  same  way.  Not  only  does  this  insure 
a  much  cleaner,  trimmer,  cut,  but  it  improves 
the  grass. 

"Except  in  the  early  spring,  just  after  the 
frost  is  out  of  the  ground,  a  heavy  roller 
should  not  be  used  on  a  green.  Even  then 
it  is  better  not  to  do  so  unless  the  ground  has 
been  badly  worked  up  by  the  frost.  The  use 
of  a  heavy  roller  tends  to  make  the  grass 
root-bound  and  materially  injures  any  green. 
All  greens  should  be  rolled  at  least  once  a 
week  with  a  comparatively  light  roller — the 
ordinary  garden  roller.  Those  with  three 
sections  are  the  best.  Finally,  a  roller  should 


REQUIREMENTS  OF  PUTTING  GREENS     157 

be  pulled — never  pushed.  If  pushed,  and 
the  ground  be  soft,  the  footprints  of  the  man 
are  left;  and,  anyway,  a  man  digs  in  his  toes 
more  when  pushing  than  in  pulling. 

"Another  thing:  do  not,  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, keep  players  off  the  regular 
greens  at  any  time.  The  more  they  are 
played  on,  the  better,  irrespective  of  time  or 
weather  conditions.  Play  on  them  day  in 
and  day  out,  the  year  around.  They  will 
be  improved  by  it,  although  it  is  hard  to 
believe  this  when  the  frost  is  coming  out  of 
the  ground,  and  deep  heel-marks  are  left  by 
the  players.  Rolling  will  correct  this. 

GETTING    RID    OF   WORMS 

"  Worms  once  in  seem  to  flourish  and  multi- 
ply if  left  to  themselves.  Thousands  were 
got  rid  of  in  one  year  by  sprinkling 
soap-suds  on  the  infested  patches,  but  great 
care  had  to  be  taken  on  account  of  the  pre- 
sence of  alkali  in  the  mixture.  In  1902  I 
tried  a  solution  of  corrosive  sublimate  (bichlor- 
ide of  mercury).  The  formula  is  I  to 
256 — i.  ^.,  one  part  of  corrosive  sublimate  to 
256  parts  of  water.  Three  to  four  pints  of 
this  solution  mixed  with  a  barrelful  of  water 


158  LAWNS 

— forty  to  fifty  gallons — answers  tiie  purpose 
admirably  and  without  the  slightest  fear  of 
injury  to  the  grass.  Undiluted  it  is  a  very 
active  poison  and  requires  careful  handling. 
"The  most  economical  way  of  applying 
it  to  the  greens  is  to  erect  a  scaffolding  five 
or  six  feet  high  at  the  highest  point  alongside 
the  green — or  an  empty  wagon  will  do — and 
place  thereon  a  couple  of  empty  kerosene 
barrels,  with  a  hole  bored  in  the  bottom,  into 
which  run  a  piece  of  three-quarter  inch  hose, 
sufficient  in  length  to  cover  the  entire  green. 
Connect  the  hose  with  an  ordinary  sprinkling 
can  and  sprinkle  freely.  That's  all.  It  is 
better  to  have  a  couple  of  barrels  so  that  one 
can  be  filling  while  the  other  is  in  use.  When 
filled  pour  in  the  mixture  and  stir.  The 
barrel  being  elevated  the  water  will  flow  by 
gravitation  with  sufficient  force  to  keep  the 
sprinkler  going  until  the  contents  of  the  bar- 
rel are  exhausted.  There  is  just  enough 
poison  in  the  mixture  to  put  an  absolute 
quietus  on  every  worm  that's  touched.  After 
they  come  to  the  surface  they  never  go  back 
again,  and  can  easily  be  brushed  up  at  the 
end  of  the  operation.  The  grass  is  not  in- 
juriously effected  in  the  slightest  degree, 


REQUIREMENTS  OF  PUTTING  GREENS    159 

nor  are  cattle  or  sheep  that  may  be  allowed 
to  graze  on  it. 

"The  best  times  to  treat  greens  are  early 
in  spring  or  in  the  fall,  when  the  ground  is 
soft  and  the  worms  are  'working.'  They 
are  then  nearer  the  surface  and  'rise'  much 
more  readily  than  when  the  ground  is  harder, 
when  more  of  the  mixture  is  required. 

"If  a  green  is  treated  in  the  spring  com- 
paratively few  worms  will  be  in  evidence  in 
the  fall.  But  if  any  are  left  it  is  better 
economy  to  get  rid  of  them.  Unless  their 
'casts'  are  removed  before  the  green  is  cut 
or  rolled  it  means  the  final  ruination  of  the 
green.  The  labour  and  consequent  expense 
involved  in  first  brushing  off  the  'casts' 
represents  a  big  item,  and  it  is  better  economy 
to  get  rid  of  the  pest  at  the  outset." 

It  may  be  added  that  since  Mr.  Travis 
wrote  the  above,  trials  of  other  grasses  have 
been  made,  with  the  result  that  the  fine- 
leaved  fescue  is  being  used  now  in  con- 
junction with  the  bents.  The  crested  dogs- 
tail,  which  makes  a  very  low  turf,  with  very 
firm  leaves,  and  stands  hard  usage,  will  often 
be  found  a  good  grass  for  a  putting-green, 
and  may  be  used  as  indicated  on  page  104. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
GUIDE  TO  THE  BEST  LAWN    GRASSES 

A  tabular  presentation  of  the  essential  differences  of  the  seventeen 
standard  lawn  grasses,  their  soil  preferences,  and  uses;  prices, 
weights,  and  quantities  to  sow. 


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for  the  Northwes 
and  for  lands  o 
poorest  sands. 


pes  on  lawns 
n  dry,  high 
tions. 


effects  on 
the  Mid- 
Eastern 


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Flatter,  more  wiry  stem 
the  Kentucky  grass, 
bluer  colour.  Used  it 
very  cheap  mixtures 
substitute. 

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Starts  early,  lasts  till 
fine  texture,  rich  greer 
our,  smooth  even  gr< 
Three  years  to  establish 

Does  not  do  well  on  dry 
Forms  a  fine  turf  and 
mat. 

Coarse  and  upright  leaf 
keeps  green  when  even 
muda  grass  burns  out. 

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INDEX 


INDEX 


Acidity,   rectifying,    57. 
Agrostis      sps.,      special 

points  about,  95. 
Anthoxanthum    odoratum 

used    for    fragrance, 

96. 

Ants,  poisoning,  78. 
Art  in  the  lawn,  135. 

Beds,  digging,  141. 

formal,  141. 

staking,  140. 
Belt  and  open  plantings, 

'as- 

Bermuda     grass,     as    a 

weed,  75. 
for  lawns  in  the  South, 

no. 

hardier,  in. 
Bent  grasses,  the,  95. 
Block  plantings,  138. 
Bone  and  bone  meal,  57, 

58,65. 

Buffalo  grass,  114. 
Buildings  and  Lawns,  10. 
Bulbilis  dactyloides,  114. 

California,  lawns  for,  114. 
Capriola  Dactylon,  75. 
Carbon     bisulphide     for 
ants,  79. 


Carpet  grass,  114. 
Cellar  excavations,  n. 
Cheap  manure,  58,  61. 
Chickweed,  76. 
City  lots,  managing  lawns 

on,  138. 
Clay  soils,   mixture   for, 

106. 

Clearing,  24. 
Clippings,    leave    or    re- 
move, 45,  50,  51. 
Clover,  white,  77. 

how  to  sow,  1 08. 

in  mixtures,  88. 

use  of,  50,  96. 
Colour  values,    139. 
Contour,  22. 

and  curves,  148. 

in  relation  to  size,  20. 

making  the,  19. 

of  beds,  142. 

unbalanced,  23. 
Contra -curves,  how  to  lay 

out,  146. 

Corn  preceding  grass,  18. 
Cost  of  a  lawn,  35. 
Cow  peas,  18. 
Crab  grass,  73. 

how  to  attack,  74,  123. 
Crested    dog's-tail,    fea- 
tures of,  88. 


167 


1 68 


INDEX 


Crested    dog's-tail,    with 

Kentucky  blue,  94. 
Crimson  clover,    57. 
Curves  and  obstacles,  147. 

making,  145. 
Cutting,  close,  49. 

first  time,  44. 

hay  often?,  45. 

rules  for,  48. 

tools  for,  1 1 8. 
Cynodon  Dactylon,  75. 

Dadylis  glomerata,  75. 
Dandelions,   69. 
Depth  of  soil,  8. 
Dock,  69. 
Drainage,   17,   28. 
Drainage,  effects,  of,  29. 
Dynamite,  how  to  use,  17. 

Earthworms,  81, 157. 
Edges  of  flower  beds,  142. 
of  lawns  trimming  and 

truing,  129. 
Edging     and     trimming 

tools,  125. 
iron,  128. 
shears,  126. 
Ellipse,  how  to  make  an, 

143- 

English    and    American 
conditions  compared, 

Excavated  soil,  handling, 
12,  25. 

Fair  green,  mixture  for, 
105. 


Fairy  rings,  84. 
Fall  dressing  before  seed- 
ing, 18. 

preparation,  40. 

renovating,  5. 
Farm   crops   to   prepare 

soil,  1 8. 
Feeding  lawns,  56. 

putting  greens,   154. 
Fertiliser  formula,  57. 
Fertilisers  and  manures, 

i4,  So- 
long  lasting,  64. 
Fertilising  on  heavy  soils, 

57- 

Southern  lawns,  in. 
Fescues,  features  of,  87. 
Festusa  ovina,  var.  tenul- 

folia,  94. 
Filling,  24. 

around  trees,  27. 
Fills,  how  to  make,  13. 
First  steps,  17. 
Florida,  lawns  for,  112. 
Flower    beds,     how     to 

make,  140. 
Fog  plant  for  California, 

II5- 
history  of,  115. 

Foreign    mixtures   unde- 
sirable, 7. 

Formulas  for   seed  mix- 
tures,    102. 

how   to   balance,    103, 
108. 

Foundations,  importance 
of  thorough,  6. 

Frost,  action  of,  5. 


INDEX 


169 


Fungous   growths   on 

Kentucky  conditions  that 

lawns,  84. 

favour,  90. 

Kerosene    emulsion     for 

Garden,  the  secluded,  137. 

white  grub,  81. 

Gasolene  for  weeds,  72. 

Korean   lawn,   grass   for 

General  purpose  mix- 

southern     seacoast, 

ture,    102. 

IJ3- 

Grading,  20,  22. 

Grass  drives  out  weeds, 

Lawn  and  house,  137. 

89. 

the,  and    its    purpose, 

hook,  128. 

J35 

Grasses    for   lawn    mix- 

as a  permanent   crop, 

tures,  102. 

16. 

for  putting  greens,  150. 

grass,  the  ideal,  88. 

undesirable,  94,  96,  99. 

grasses,    guide   to    the 

Grass-walks,  139. 

best,  157.- 

Green  manure,  18,  57. 

in  relation  to  garden, 

Ground  bone,  57,  58,  65. 

6. 

Gulf  coast  country,  lawns 

making  before  building, 

for,  114. 

ii. 

mixtures     for     special 

Harrowing,  17,  24. 

situations: 

Heaving  in  winter,  46. 

clay    soils,  106. 

Hill  top  mixture,  107. 

fair  green,   105. 

Horse  shoes,  121. 

general  purpose,  102. 

Horses  on  the  lawn,  121. 

hilltops,  107. 

Hose  and  its  care,  129. 

putting  greens,   104, 

armoured,  130. 

150. 

how  to  buy,   130. 

sandy  soils,  105. 

reel,  132. 

seaside,    105. 

Humus,  14,  18. 

shaded  places,    104. 

how  to  get,  13. 

terraces   and  slopes, 

104. 

Insects  and  frost,  5. 

wet      and      bottom 

troublesome,  68. 

lands,  106. 

mower,  adjustment  of 

Kentucky   blue  grass  as 

48. 

a  lawn  grass,  88. 

new,  dressing  for,  57. 

INDEX 


Lawn    pictures,   how   to 

make,  135. 
sweepers,  123. 
Lawns,  English,  6. 
for  California,  114. 
for  Florida,  112. 
for  Gulf  coast  country, 

114. 
for  subtropical  regions, 

109. 
in  the  western  prairies, 

114. 

in  the  West  Indies,  113. 
need  rich  land,  15. 
Newport,  8. 
old,  3. 
on  sand,  9. 
on  the  southern  coast, 

113. 

small,  level,  21. 
small,   landscaping  of, 

138. 

why  some  fail,  15 
Levelling,  25. 

with  stakes,  26. 
Level    surface    generally 

bad,  20. 

Lime,  5,  18,  57,  66. 
for  sour  soil,  73 . 
how  to  use,  14. 
water  for  worms,  82. 
Lippia  nodi  flora,   115. 
Lolium      perenne,      var. 

tenue  (see  rye  grass), 

163. 

Manure,    organic,  super- 
iority of,  14. 


Manure,  poultry,  78. 

stable,  58. 

Manures    chemical    and 
natural  compared,  14. 
Manuring,  19. 

in  winter,  59. 
Mercuric  bichloride    for 

worms,  157. 
Mixtures,   advantages  of 

88. 
for    special    purposes, 

101. 
reasons  for  using,  7,  89, 

101. 

Moles,  82. 
Motor  mower  and  roller 

combined,    121. 
Mowers,  119. 

and  their  knives,  1 20. 
damage    to    trees    and 

shrubs  by,   127. 
Mowing  and  rolling  put- 
ting greens,  156. 
rolling    and    watering, 

44- 

how  often?  45. 
machine,  adjustment  of 

45- 

time  for,  47. 
weather  for,  51. 
Mulching  after  mowing, 

So- 
new   lawns,    57. 
Mushrooms  on  lawns,  86. 

Newport  lawns,  8. 
Nitrate  of  soda,  63. 
Nozzles,    131. 


INDEX 


171 


Oats,  as  a  nurse,  41. 
Obstacles     and     curves, 

147. 
Open  and  belt  plantings, 

*35- 

Orchard  grass,  75. 
Osterdamia  matrella,  113. 

Panicum  sanguinale,  73. 
Paspalum  compressum, 

114. 
Paths  and  roads,  when  to 

make,  24. 

Phleum  pratense,  75. 
Plantains,  70. 
Planting  before  seeding, 

25- 

belt,  23. 

groups  of  trees,  148. 
marginal,    22. 
mass,  137. 
round  the  lawn,  135. 
Ploughing,  17,  24. 
Plough  vs.  spade,  5. 
Poa,  annual,  7. 
Poanemoralis,g^. 

pratensis      (see     Ken- 
tucky blue  grass) 
trivialis,  95. 
Potatoes  preceding  grass, 

18. 

Preliminary  costs  and  re- 
sults, 15. 

Preliminary  steps,   14. 
Prices  of  seed  mixtures, 

98. 

Putting  greens,   mixtures 
for,  104,  150. 


Putting   greens,   how   to 

cut,  120. 
soil  for,  151. 

Quick  results  from  bent 
grass  and  rye  grass, 

93- 

grasses    and    mixtures 
for,  87,  88. 

Raking,  4. 

Red  top,  features  of,  87. 

soil,  for,  95. 
Renovating,  3. 

spring,  6. 

fall,  6. 
Repairing,  4. 

after  weeding,  76. 

putting  greens,   153. 
Reseeding,   4,   64. 
Rhode  Island  bent  as  a 

nurse  grass,  92. 
Roads  and  drives,  hiding, 
22. 

when  to  make,  24. 
Roller,  weight  of,  45,  47, 
123. 

for     putting      greens, 

156. 

Rollers,  types  of,  47,  123. 
Rolling,  24. 

after  sowing,  43. 

heavy,   advantages  of, 
81. 

mowing  and  watering; 

44- 

old  lawns,  46. 
on  heavy  land,  46. 


I  72 


INDEX 


Rough-stalked     meadow 
grass,  when  to  use, 

95- 
Rye  grass,  7. 

English,  features  of,  87. 
for  winter  lawns  in  the 

South,  in. 
stands  rough  usage,  93. 

St.  Augustine  grass,  113. 
St.  Lucie  grass  (see  hard- 
ier Bermuda  grass). 
Sandy  soil,  grasses  for,  95. 

lawns  on,  9. 

mixture  for,  105. 
Scythe,  how  to  use,  44. 

the  neglected,  133. 
Seaside    lawns,    mixture 

for,   105. 
Seed,  cheapness  of,  43. 

grades  of,  15. 

how  to  buy,  97. 

mixtures,   facts  about, 
87. 

for    special    purposes, 
101. 

or  turf  ?  3 2. 

quantity  to  use,  24,  42. 

formation  spoils  lawns, 

48. 
Seeding  (see  Sowing),  24. 

day  for,  42. 

fall  dressing  before,  18. 

in  summer,  41. 

on  the  snow,  40. 

on  wet  soils,  41. 

thick  or  thin,  42. 
Sequence  of  operations,  23 


Shaded  places,  93. 

mixture   for,    104. 
Sheep  shears,  127. 
Shrubberies,  planting,  25. 
Site,  deciding  on,  10. 

ideal,  21. 
Slime  moulds,  85. 
Sods  (see  turf). 
Sods,  sizes  of,  35. 
Soil,  depth  of,  necessary, 

I3- 

enriching,  proper  meth- 
od, 13. 

excavated,  12. 
using  up,  25. 

improvement,    14,    18, 

57- 

often  variable,  90. 

sour,  treatment  of,  72. 

top,  30,  31. 
Soils,  acid,  grasses  for,  91. 

grasses  for  various,  162. 

wet,  when  to  seed,  41. 
Southern    States,     lawns 

for,  109. 
Sowing  (see  Seeding). 

time  for,  40. 

position  for,   42. 

the  art  of,  41. 
Spring  renovating,  6. 

repairing  ruts   during, 
60. 

top  dressings,  62. 

work      upon      putting 

greens,  152. 

Sprinkling,  fallacy  of,  52. 
Staking  curves,  145. 

for  tree  planting,  149. 


INDEX 


173 


Staking  out  beds  and 
roads,  145,  143. 

Stenotaphrum  secunda- 
tum,  113. 

Stumps,  clearing,  17. 

Subsoiling,  14,  24. 

Subsoil  improving,  12. 

Subtropical  regions,lawns 
for,  109. 

Summer,  lawn  making  in, 

33- 

seeding  in,  41. 
Sweet  vernal  grass,  why 

used,  96. 
Syntherisma    sanguinale, 

73- 

Terraces  and  slopes,  mix- 
ture for,  104. 

pegs  for,  39. 

use  of  oats,  41. 
Tile,  how  to  use,  29. 
Timothy,  75. 

should  be  excluded,  96. 
Tobacco  stems,  58,  67. 
Tools  and  their  use,  118. 
Top  dressings,  47. 

fall,  5. 

spring,  62. 

Top  soil  danger  of  weeds 
from,  31. 

how  to  handle,  31. 

importing,  30. 
Trees,  filling  around,  27. 

old,  retaining,  27. 

planting  in  groups,  148. 
Turf  for  terraces,  39. 

advantages  of,  y. 


Turf,  beating  down,  39. 

disadvantages  of,  34. 

laying,  routine   of,  37, 

or  seed?  32. 

price  of,  35. 

walks,  139. 
Turfing  iron,  132. 

Vistas,     importance     of, 
136. 

Walks,  width  for,  148. 
Watering  and  weather,  52. 

effects  of  bad,  53. 

putting  greens,  155. 

right  and  wrong,  52. 

rolling  and  mowing,  44. 
Weeding  aids  and  tools, 

123. 
Weeds  4,  19. 

and  stable  manure,  61. 

excluded  by  grass,  89. 

crowding  out,  8. 

deep,  rooting,  124. 

lawns  composed  of,  8. 

poisoning,  71. 

repairing  after,  76. 

and  manure,  57. 

when  to  dig,  76. 

worst,  the,  68. 

seeds  of,   18. 
Wells  for  tree  boles,  27. 
Western    prairies,    lawns 

for,  114. 
West   Indies,    lawns    in, 

IX3- 

Wet   and  bottom  lands, 
mixture   for,    106. 


INDEX 


White  grub,  80. 
Winter  heaving,  46. 

manuring  in,  59. 

seeding  in,  40. 
Wood  ashes,  59. 

and  lye,  65. 

how  to  use,  62. 


Wood  meadow  grass,  93. 
features  of  87. 

Worm  casts,  cleaning  off, 
82. 

Worms  on  lawns  and  put- 
ting greens,  ridding, 


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